ABSTRACT
An analytical study of multi-bay prestressed stayed columns is presented. The model is formulated with potential energy principles in conjunction with the Rayleigh–Ritz method. Both linear and nonlinear buckling responses are investigated using the numerical continuation package Auto to solve the derived system of nonlinear equilibrium equations. The results are compared with numerical models developed within the commercial finite element package Abaqus. It is found that the distinct buckling eigenmodes do not necessarily control the post-buckling behaviour, especially when the critical mode has an antisymmetric profile where interactive buckling is found to govern the mechanical response.
