Analyses of Steel Bridge Circular Columns using Fiber Modelconsidering Local Buckling

One of the most concerned problems for analytical estimation of ultimate strengthand ductility of steel bridge columns is the consideration of local buckling. Stress-strain curveswith softening behavior to include local buckling in fiber model analysis method were proposedby several researchers. However, accuracy of those models is still relatively low. As aconsequence, most steel bridge designs have been done using fiber model analysis methodwithout consideration of local buckling. In order to improve the analytical response estimation ofsteel bridge columns, a fiber model analysis method considering local buckling is proposed in thisstudy. In this method, multi-fiber elements were used to model the local buckling length tosimulate local buckling deformation. The proposed method shows good results not only forestimating peak strength but also post-peak strength compared to previous experimentalresults. However, further research should be directed to improve the accuracy of the deformationmodes.