• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.70 no.4
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• pp.499-511
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• 2019

In this study, the axial compressive behavior of novel quadruple C-channel built-up cold-formed steel columns with different slenderness ratio was investigated, using the experimental and numerical analysis. The axial compressive capacity and failure modes of the columns were obtained and analyzed. The finite element models considering the geometry, material and contact nonlinearity were developed to simulate and analyze the structural behavior of the columns further. There was a great correlation between the numerical analyses and test results, which indicated that the finite element model was reasonable and accurate. Then influence of, slenderness ratio, flange width-to-thickness ratio and screw spacing on the mechanical behavior of the columns were studied, respectively. The tests and numerical results show that due to small slenderness ratio, the failure modes of the specimens are generally local buckling and distortional buckling. The axial compressive strength and stiffness of the quadruple C-channel built-up cold-formed steel columns decrease with the increase of maximum slenderness ratio. When the screw spacing is ranging from 150mm to 450mm, the axial compressive strength and stiffness of the quadruple C-channel built-up cold-formed steel columns change little. The axial compressive capacity of quadruple C-channel built-up cold-formed steel columns increases with the decrease of flange width-thickness ratio. A modified effective length factor is proposed to quantify the axial compressive capacity of the quadruple C-channel built-up cold-formed steel columns with U-shaped track in the ends.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.37-66
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• 2019

In cold-formed steel structures, such as trusses, wall frames and portal frames, the use of back-to-back built-up cold-formed stainless-steel lipped channels as compression members are becoming increasingly popular. The advantages of using stainless-steel as structural members are corrosion resistance and durability, compared with carbon steel. The AISI/ASCE Standard, SEI/ASCE-8-02 and AS/NZS do not include the design of stainless-steel built-up channels and very few experimental tests or finite element analyses have been reported in the literature for such back-to back cold-formed stainless-steel channels. Current guidance by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and the Australian and New Zealand (gAS/NZS) standards for built-up carbon steel sections only describe a modified slenderness approach, to consider the spacing of the intermediate fasteners. Thus, this paper presents a numerical investigation on the behavior of back-to-back cold-formed stainless-steel built-up lipped channels. Three different grades of stainless steel i.e., duplex EN1.4462, ferritic EN1.4003 and austenitic EN1.4404 have been considered. Effect of screw spacing on the axial strength of such built-up channels was investigated. As expected, most of the short and intermediate columns failed by either local-global or local-distortional buckling interactions, whereas the long columns, failed by global buckling. All three grades of stainless-steel stub columns failed by local buckling. A comprehensive parametric study was then carried out covering a wide range of slenderness and different cross-sectional geometries to assess the performance of the current design guidelines by AISI and AS/NZS. In total, 647 finite element models were analyzed. From the results of the parametric study, it was found that the AISI & AS/NZS are conservative by around 10 to 20% for cold-formed stainless-steel built-up lipped channels failed through overall buckling, irrespective of the stainless-steel grades. However, the AISI and AS/NZS can be un-conservative by around 6% for all three grades of stainless-steel built-up channels, which failed by local buckling.