Spaced Steel Columns

End tie plates in battened columns may contribute significantly to the buckling strength. Their effect is accentuated by the study of a spaced column, defined herein as the limiting case of a battened column in which the battens are attached to the longitudinal column elements by hinged connections. The strengthening effect of the end tie plates is due to two factors: (1) A shortening of the lenngth within which the column components can bend about their own axes and (2) the longitudinal components are forced to buckle in a modification of second mode shape and thus have elastic buckling coefficients that approach four times those of the first mode. In addition to their contribution to column strength, end tie plates perform their usual role of distributing the direct or moment applied loads to the component elements of either laced or battened columns.