Fem Stability Analysis of Tapered Beam-columns

This paper deals with a theoretical and a numerical analysis of tapered beam‐columns subjected to a bending moment and an axial force. A standard FEM code COSMOS/M has been used for a numerical estimation of a critical load multiplier. It has been assumed that the critical force of an axially loaded tapered column could be calculated in an analogous way as for uniform member just with an additional correction factor αn. Similarly, a critical bending moment of the tapered column subjected to a pure bending could be determined by using a correction factor αm. A large number of simulations carried out within a wide range of the ratios of second moments of area allowed to determine the proper values of theses two factors. For practical engineers, solution of such kind of problems can be easier when an equivalent cross‐sectional height htr is used.