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Aluminium Design and Construction John Dwight

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CHAPTER 7<br />

Plate elements in<br />

compression<br />

7.1 GENERAL DESCRIPTION<br />

7.1.1 Local buckling<br />

In aluminium design it is often economic to employ wide thin sections,<br />

so as to obtain optimum section properties for a minimum weight of<br />

metal. The extrusion process makes this possible. The limit to which<br />

a designer may thus go in spreading out the material depends on<br />

local buckling of the individual plate elements comprising the section.<br />

If the section is made too wide <strong>and</strong> thin, premature failure will occur<br />

with local buckles forming in elements that carry compressive stress<br />

(Figure 7.1).<br />

The first step in checking the static strength of a member is to classify<br />

the cross-section. Is it compact or slender? If it is compact, local buckling<br />

is not a problem <strong>and</strong> may be ignored. If it is slender the resistance will<br />

be reduced, with interaction occurring between local buckling of individual<br />

plate elements <strong>and</strong> overall buckling of the member as a whole.<br />

7.1.2 Types of plate element<br />

Two basic kinds of element are recognized, namely internal elements <strong>and</strong><br />

outst<strong>and</strong>s. An internal element is attached to the rest of the section at both<br />

Figure 7.1 Local buckling.<br />

Copyright 1999 by Taylor & Francis Group. All Rights Reserved.

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