An experimental investigation into the material properties, column strengths and beam-column strengths of cold-formed high strength stainless steel square hollow sections (SHS) and rectangular hollow sections (RHS) is presented in this thesis....[ Read more ]

An experimental investigation into the material properties, column strengths and beam-column strengths of cold-formed high strength stainless steel square hollow sections (SHS) and rectangular hollow sections (RHS) is presented in this thesis.

The behaviour of cold-formed SHS and RHS of high strength materials of duplex and high strength austenitic stainless steel was investigated. The material properties of the test specimens were obtained by tensile coupon tests, residual stress measurements and stub column tests. The initial local and overall geometric imperfections of the specimens were also measured. Furthermore, the stub column test strengths were compared with the design strengths predicted using the American, Australian/New Zealand and European specifications for cold-formed stainless steel structures.

The test programs on cold-formed high strength stainless steel columns and beam-columns of duplex stainless steel, having the yield stress and tensile strength up to 750 and 850 MPa respectively, were described. The material properties of the test specimens were obtained from tensile coupon and stub column tests. The columns were compressed between fixed ends at different column lengths, while the beam-columns were compressed between pinned ends with different loading eccentricities. The initial overall geometric imperfections of the column and beam-column specimens were measured. The strength and behaviour of cold-formed high strength stainless steel columns and beam-columns were investigated. The column and beam-column test strengths were compared with the design strengths predicted by the American, Australian/New Zealand and European specifications. Generally, the design strengths predicted by the specifications are conservative for the cold-formed high strength stainless steel columns and beam-columns. In addition, reliability analysis was performed to evaluate the current design rules for pure compression members.

It is recommended that the cold-formed high strength stainless steel SHS and RHS columns can be designed using the current American, Australian/New Zealand and European specifications for cold-formed stainless steel, while the cold-formed high strength stainless steel beam-columns can be designed using the current American and Australian/New Zealand specifications, despite the fact that these specifications are mainly developed based on the normal strength stainless steel such as type 304 and 316.