Impact Study of Lateral Supporting Stiffness for Main Frame Stability of Radial Gate

The main frame of the radial gate could be simplified to weakly braced gate-type frame with limited lateral displacement. In order to reflect the actual buckling mode,according to the theory of structural stability,the expression of constraint constant considering rotational stiffness and lateral stiffness,was deduced by equilibrium equation of the concentrically loaded columns with the end restricted. Then the buckling equation of radial-gate frame at different crossbeam linear stiffness and lateral stiffness could be deduced,and the exact solution of the effective length factor was given by trial calculation. An example showed that the practical formula was of high precision and generally applicable. When lateral supporting stiffness Kb was greater than 10,the framework stability was no longer improving obviously that the divide point of strong support and the weak support was taken as 10; Effective length factors were greatly large between freedom and rigid support frame,thus the lateral support stiffness Kb significantly affect the buckling load,we must first ascertain the strength of lateral support before determining the frame stability.