POSTBUCKLING BEHAVIOR OF WELDED BOX SECTION STEEL COMPRESSION MEMBERS

Present paper observed the postbuckling behavior of welded box section bridge compression members using static and response analysis. Parametric study using beam and shell varied in width- thickness and slenderness ratio compared with full truss bridge beam model were used. Results indicated that for design based purposes, beam element disregarding initial imperfection factors is still suitable. But for analysis based purposes, which need the capability to perform real structure behavior and to explore the postbuckling regime, sh ell is the best choice as it can perform more detail compression members behavior and has more severe strength reduction in postbuckling regime, especially.