Issues Related to the Design of Spatial Structures

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(3) Effective Buckling Lengths

Compression members of spatial structures are susceptible to buckling. Systems that have flattened (crimped or coined) member ends, such as the Triodetic system, have generally the largest effective length factors for buckling about the crimps. On the contrary, when the members of a spatial structure keep their full sections at the nodes such as when welded ends are used, the smallest effective length factors are usually used for design. Systems with other end conditions generally lie between these cases. 

Therefore, for the three possible cases, the following effective length factors are recommended:

systems with full section ends  (welded ends)                                     k=0.7
systems with reduced section ends ( such as Mero System)                 k=0.9
systems with flattened section ends (such as Triodetic System)           k=0.95

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