Code Calculations for Local Stability of Shaft Guides

Steel structures for a conveyance guiding system are subjected to prolonged, intense corrosion during their operation leading to a considerable loss of material and structure capacity reduction. Shaft guides are made of closed profiles welded from hot-rolled channel sections. These profiles are categorized as class 1 cross-sections according to Eurocode 3, which means that they are resistant to local instability upon bending [1]. With an increase in the corrosion loss of the guides, the inertia moment of the cross-section is reduced. The resistance of profiles to local buckling is also reduced. However, calculations for local stability in guides upon bending are not required by the local Polish regulations on the operation of conveyance in shafts [2]. The question is whether this constitutes a shortcoming and risk for safe operation. Calculations according to steel construction standards [1] supported by numerical simulation were used to evaluate shaft steelwork guides resistance to buckling and their sensitivity to corrosion loss. It was shown that the guides of corrosion loss of 52–63%, depending on profile size, are prone to local buckling.