Combined Distortional and Overall Flexural-Torsional Buckling of Cold-Formed Stainless Steel Sections: Experimental Investigations

Abstract

This paper presents a series of 48 full-scale tests on press-braked stainless steel lipped channel section columns subjected to concentric compression. The tests were carried out between fixed ends in the Structures Laboratory of the University of Liège and the test specimens were designed such that distortional buckling developed in the section prior to overall flexural-torsional buckling. The stainless steel alloy was 1.4003 chromium weldable steel, popularly known as 3Cr12. Three different geometries were tested using the same experimental setup. A critical summary of the standards and methods for calculating the carrying capacity of cold-formed stainless steel compression members is presented in a companion paper by the same writers.