Buckling Analysis of Steel H Column with Thermal Gradient Along the Flanges

This paper presents an analytical study about the axial compression buckling of H-section columns with one side of the flanges exposed to fire. The fire-induced thermal gradient along the flanges is obtained by using simplified Fourier heat conduction equation. The pre-buckling stress and bowing effect due to the non-uniform temperature distribution through the cross-section is considered. The analysis is accomplished by using the Rayleigh–Ritz method. The analytical solution is validated by finite element analysis using ANSYS. Finally, the parametric study is performed for different sections including different values of length, thickness ratio and width-to-height ratio.