Abstract: | A rational and accurate numerical analysis is presented for the buckling of core walls coupled with connecting beams by using spline finite member element method (SFMEM) in which the effects of torsion, warping and, especially, the shearing strains in the middle surface of the walls are taken into account. The core wall structure is discretized and modelled as an equivalent thin‐walled closed section, while the connecting beams between openings are replacement by an equivalent shear diaphragm of thickness. The numerical method combines the advantages of B3‐spline, the finite member element method and Vlasov's thin‐walled bar theory. The simplicity and accuracy of the proposed scheme are demonstrated by a numerical example. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |