Review article

The article presents a theoretical substantiation for the new engineering method of calculating the stability of thin-walled cold formed steel bar elements in order to assess the overall stability according to the flexural, flexural-torsional, and spatial forms. The calculation substantiation uses analytical second-order solutions and Eurocode provisions for the evaluation of the reduced section. At multifactor loading, the asymmetric reduced section is replaced with a non-reduced symmetric one with an additional loading of the rod element with a fictitious force compensating the reduction. The limit stress state formulas, which are used for determining the reduced section and the corresponding stability coefficients, are presented.