• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.393-403
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• 2019

Cold-formed steel (CFS) has a great potential to meet the global challenge of fast-track and durable construction. CFS members undergo large buckling instabilities due to their small wall thickness. CFS beams with corrugated webs have shown great resistance towards web buckling under flexure, when compared to the conventional I-sections. However, the magnitude of global imperfections significantly affects the performance of CFS members. This paper presents the first attempt made to experimentally study the effect of global imperfections on the structural efficiency of various strengthening schemes implemented in CFS beams with corrugated webs. Different strengthening schemes were adopted for two types of beams, one with large global imperfections and the other with small imperfections. Strength and stiffness characteristics of the beams were used to evaluate the structural efficiency of the various strengthening schemes adopted. Six tests were performed with simply supported end conditions, under four-point loading conditions. The load vs. mid-span displacement response, failure loads and modes of failure of the test specimens were investigated. The test results would compensate the lack of experimental data in this area of research and would help in developing numerical models for extensive studies for the development of necessary guidelines on the same. Strengthening schemes assisted in enhancing the member performance significantly, both in terms of strength and stiffness. Hence, providing an economic and time saving solution to such practical structural engineering problems.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.27-41
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• 2023

Under the long-term effect of corrosive environment, many cold-formed steel (CFS) structures have serious corrosion problems. Corrosion leads to the change of surface morphology and the loss of section thickness, which results in the change of instability mode and failure mechanism of CFS structure. This paper mainly investigates the elastic local buckling behavior of corroded CFS columns. The surface morphology scanning test was carried out for eight CFS columns accelerated corrosion by the outdoor periodic spray test. The thin shell finite element (FE) eigen-buckling analysis was also carried out to reveal the influence of corrosion surface characteristics, corrosion depth, corrosion location and corrosion area on the elastic local buckling behaviour of the plates with four simply supported edges. The accuracy of the proposed formulas for calculating the elastic local buckling stress of the corroded plates and columns was assessed through extensive parameter studies. The results indicated that for the plates considering corrosion surface characteristics, the maximum deformation area of local buckling was located at the plates with the minimum average section area. For the plates with localized corrosion, the main buckling shape of the plates changed from one half-wave to two half-wave with the increase in corrosion area length. The elastic local buckling stress decreased gradually with the increase in corrosion area width and length. In addition, the elastic local buckling stress decreased slowly when corrosion area thickness was relatively large, and then tends to accelerate with the reduction in corrosion area thickness. The distance from the corrosion area to the transverse and longitudinal centerline of the plate had little effect on the elastic local buckling stress. Finally, the calculation formula of the elastic local buckling stress of the corroded plates and CFS columns was proposed.

• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.71-86
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• 2018

Thin-walled cross-sections can be optimized to enhance their resistance and progress their behaviour, leading to more competent and inexpensive structural system. The aim of this study is to afford a methodology that would facilitate progress of optimized cold formed steel (CFS) column section with maximum ultimate strength for practical applications. The proposed sections are designed to comply with the geometrical standards of pre-qualified column standards for CFS structures as well as with the number of industrialized and practical constraints. The stiffening evaluation process of CFS lipped channel columns, a five different cross section are considered. The experimental strength and behaviour of the proposed sections are verified by using the finite element analysis (FEA). A series comprehensive parametric study is carried out covering a wide range of section slenderness and overall slenderness ratio of the CFS column with and without intermediate web stiffeners. The ultimate strength of the sections is determined based on the Direct Strength Specification and other design equation available from the literature for CFS structures. A modified design method is proposed for the DSM specification. The results indicate that the CFS column with complex edge and intermediate web stiffeners provides an ultimate strength which is up to 78% higher than standard optimized shapes with the same amount of cross sectional area.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.441-456
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• 2024

This paper aims to develop Machine Learning (ML) algorithms to predict the buckling resistance of cold-formed steel (CFS) channels with restrained flanges, widely used in typical CFS sheathed wall panels, and provide practical design tools for engineers. The effects of cross-sectional restraints were first evaluated on the elastic buckling behaviour of CFS channels subjected to pure axial compressive load or bending moment. Feedforward multi-layer Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) were then trained on different datasets comprising CFS channels with various dimensions and properties, plate thicknesses, and restraining conditions on one or two flanges, while the elastic distortional buckling resistance of the elements were determined according to the Finite Strip Method (FSM). To develop less biased networks and ensure that every observation from the original dataset has the chance of appearing in the training and test set, a K-fold cross-validation technique was implemented. In addition, the hyperparameters of the ANNs were tuned using a grid search technique to provide ANNs with optimum performances. The results demonstrated that the trained ANNs were able to predict the elastic distortional buckling resistance of CFS flange-restrained elements with an average accuracy of 99% in terms of coefficient of determination. The developed models were then used to propose a simple ANN-based design formula for the prediction of the elastic distortional buckling stress of CFS flange-restrained elements. Finally, the proposed formula was further evaluated on a separate set of unseen data to ensure its accuracy for practical applications.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.497-512
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• 2023

Using light weight concrete as infill material in conventional cold-formed steel (CFS) shear wall systems can considerably increase their load bearing capacity, ductility, integrity and fire resistance. The compressive strength of the filler concrete is a key factor affecting the structural behaviour of the composite wall systems, and therefore, achieving maximum compressive strength in lightweight concrete while maintaining its lightweight properties is of significant importance. In this study a new type of optimum polystyrene lightweight concrete (OPLC) with high compressive strength is developed for infill material in composite CFS shear wall systems. To study the seismic behaviour of the OPLC-filled CFS shear wall systems, two full scale wall specimens are tested under cyclic loading condition. The effects of OPLC on load-bearing capacity, failure mode, ductility, energy dissipation capacity, and stiffness degradation of the walls are investigated. It is shown that the use of OPLC as infill in CFS shear walls can considerably improve their seismic performance by: (i) preventing the premature buckling of the stud members, and (ii) changing the dominant failure mode from brittle to ductile thanks to the bond-slip behaviour between OPLC and CFS studs. It is also shown that the design equations proposed by EC8 and ACI 318-14 standards overestimate the shear force capacity of OPLC-filled CFS shear wall systems by up to 80%. This shows it is necessary to propose methods with higher efficiency to predict the capacity of these systems for practical applications.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.90 no.2
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• pp.117-125
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• 2024

This article presents the behaviour and design of cold-formed steel (CFS) web-stiffened lipped channel beams that primarily fail owing to the buckling interaction of distortional and global buckling modes. The incorporation of an intermediate stiffener in the web of the lipped channel improved the buckling performance leads to distortional buckling at intermediate length beams. The prediction of the strength of members that fail in individual buckling modes can be easily determined using the current DSM equations. However, it is difficult to estimate the strength of members undergoing buckling interactions. Special attention is required to predict the strength of the members undergoing strong buckling interactions. In the present study, the geometric dimensions of the web stiffened lipped channel beam sections were chosen such that they have almost equal distortional and global buckling stresses to have strong interactions. A validated numerical model was used to perform a parametric study and obtain design strength data for CFS web-stiffened lipped channel beams. Based on the obtained numerical data, an assessment of the current DSM equations and the equations proposed in the literature (for lipped channel CFS sections) is performed. Suitable modifications were also proposed in this work, which resulted in a higher level of design accuracy to predict the flexural strength of CFS web stiffened lipped channel beams undergoing distortional and global mode interaction. Furthermore, reliability analysis was performed to confirm the reliability of the proposed modification.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.447-458
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• 2022

Cold-formed steel (CFS) sections are thin-walled, therefore, more susceptible to different types of geometric imperfections. Global type of geometric imperfections has a significant impact on the load-carrying capacity of flexural members. This paper reports an experimental study that discusses the influence of global imperfections on the flexural response of CFS built-up I-beams composed of two lipped channels, with simply supported ends, under four-point loading. Global imperfections of magnitude over eight times the maximum permissible ones were induced in the specimens, leading to their distress. Using various simple stiffening schemes, the capacity and stiffness of the distressed specimens were improvised. The performance comparisons were made based on the maximum loads resisted, flexural stiffnesses offered, and failure modes experienced by the specimens. As experimental data on such distressed specimens are currently lacking in the literature, the test results of the present study will provide the necessary data needed by future researchers to numerically extend this study further, which will help in the development of necessary design guidelines for the same. The stiffening schemes significantly improved the structural efficiency of distressed specimens in terms of strength and stiffness, by over 60%. As a result, an effective and time-saving solution to such realistic structural engineering problems is given.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.611-625
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• 2020

Experimental investigation and finite element analysis of corroded cold-formed steel (CFS) columns are presented. 11 tensile coupon specimens and 6 stub columns of corroded CFS that had a channel section of C160x60x20 were subjected to monotonic tensile tests and axial compression tests, respectively. The degradation laws of the mechanical properties of the tensile coupon specimens and stub columns were analysed. An appropriate finite element model for the corroded CFS columns was proposed and the influence of local corrosion on the stability performance of the columns was studied by finite element analysis. Finally, the axial capacity of the experimental results was compared with the predictions obtained from the existing design specifications. The results indicated that with an increasing average thickness loss ratio, the ultimate strength, elastic modulus and yield strength decreased for the tensile coupon specimens. Local buckling deformation was not noticeable until the load reached about 90% of the ultimate load for the non-corroded columns, while local buckling deformation was observed when the load was only 40% of the ultimate load for the corroded columns. The maximum reduction of the ultimate load and critical buckling load was 57% and 81.7%, respectively, compared to those values for the non-corroded columns. The ultimate load of the columns with web thickness reduced by 2 mm was 53% lower than that of the non-corroded columns, which indicates that web corrosion most significantly affects the bearing capacity of the columns with localized corrosion. The results predicted using the design specifications of MOHURD were more accurate than those predicted using the design specifications of AISI.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.90 no.2
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• pp.143-157
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• 2024

Cold-formed steel (CFS) I sections are increasingly being used as load-bearing components in building constructions, and such I sections frequently incorporate web holes to facilitate service installation. The economical and structural advantages of these elements have prompted many researchers to investigate the behavior of such structures. Despite numerous studies on the buckling stability of castellated beams, there is a notable absence of experimental investigation into oval castellated beams with stiffeners. This study examines the local buckling of cold-formed steel castellated I-beams stiffened with oval constellations through experimental and numerical analysis. Four specimens are fabricated with and without stiffeners, including parallel, perpendicular, and intersecting types attached to the web portion of the beam, along with cross stiffeners for the oval-shaped openings at the beam ends. Additionally, a numerical model is developed to predict the behavior of castellated beams with oval openings up to failure, considering both material and geometric nonlinearities. Codal analysis is performed using the North American specification for cold-formed steel AISI S-100 and the Australian/New Zealand design code AS/NZS 4600. The anticipated outcomes from numerical analysis, experimental research, and codal analysis are compared and presented. It will be more helpful to the preliminary designers.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.311-325
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• 2022

For multi-story structural systems, Korean steel industry has fostered development of a steel-concrete composite beam. Configuration of the composite beam is characterized by steel angle shear connectors welded to a U-shaped cold formed-steel beam. Effects of shear connector orientation and spacing were studied to evaluate current application of the angle shear connector design equation in AC495. For the study, interfacial shear resistance behavior was investigated by conducting 24 push-out tests and attuned using unreinforced push-out specimens. Interfacial shear to horizontal slip response was reported along with corresponding failure patterns. Pure shear connector strength was also evaluated by excluding concrete shear contribution, which was estimated in relation to steel beam-slab interface separation or interfacial crack width.