Equivalent Imperfections In Arched Structures

There are currently three design methods to verify the in-plane buckling of an arched structure: substitute member method, the method of equivalent imperfection with recommendations for arched bridges, and the equivalent unique global and local initial imperfection method (EUGLI), which uses the critical elastic buckling mode as an imperfection. The latter method is included in the EN 1993-1-1 cl. 5.3.2 (11) since 2002; however, to this day it is neither utilized in the design practice nor is it incorporated in ordinary structural analysis software. The main purpose of this article is to show the application of the proposed methods in a step-by-step manner to the numerical example considered and to compare these design methods for various arched structures. Verification of the in-plane buckling of an arch is explained in detail.