Experimental investigation of built-up cold-formed steel section battened columns

This paper presents an experimental investigation on behaviour and design of built-up cold-formed steel section battened columns. The built-up columns were pin-ended and consisted of two cold-formed steel channels placed back-to-back at varied spacing of intersection. The two channels were connected using batten plates, with varying longitudinal spacing. The cold-formed steel channel sections were manufactured by brake-pressing flat strips having a plate thickness of 2 mm. The built-up cold-formed steel section battened columns had different slenderness and geometries but had the same nominal length of 2200 mm. The column strengths, load–axial shortening, load–lateral displacement and load–axial strain relationships were measured in the tests. In addition, the failure modes and deformed shapes at failure were observed in the tests and reported in this paper. Overall, the built-up column tests provided valuable experimental data regarding the column behaviour that compensated the lack of information on this form of construction as well as used to develop nonlinear 3-D finite element models. The column strengths measured experimentally were compared against design strengths calculated using the North American Specification, Australian/New Zealand Standard and European Code for cold-formed steel columns. Generally, it is shown that the specifications were unconservative for the built-up cold-formed steel section battened columns failing mainly by local buckling, while the specifications were conservative for the built-up columns failing mainly by elastic flexural buckling.     

Experimental study of the mechanical properties of light gauge cold-formed steels at elevated temperatures

In recent times, light gauge cold-formed steel sections have been used extensively as primary load-bearing structural members in many applications in the building industry. Fire safety design of structures using such sections has, therefore, become more important. Deterioration of mechanical properties of yield stress and elasticity modulus is considered the most important factor affecting the performance of steel structures in fires. Hence, there is a need to fully understand the mechanical properties of light gauge cold-formed steels at elevated temperatures. A research project based on experimental studies was, therefore, undertaken to investigate the deterioration of mechanical properties of light gauge cold-formed steels. Tensile coupon tests were undertaken to determine the mechanical properties of these steels made of both low- and high-strength steels and thicknesses of 0.60, 0.80 and 0.95 mm at temperatures ranging from 20 to 800 °C. Test results showed that the currently available reduction factors are unsafe to use in the fire safety design of cold-formed steel structures. Therefore, new predictive equations were developed for the mechanical properties of yield strength and elasticity modulus at elevated temperatures. This paper presents the details of the experimental study, and the results including the developed equations. It also includes details of a stress–strain model for light gauge cold-formed steels at elevated temperatures.     

Experimental investigation of cold-formed steel material at elevated temperatures

This paper presents the mechanical properties data for cold-formed steel at elevated temperatures. The deterioration of the mechanical properties of yield strength (0.2% proof stress) and elastic modulus are the primary properties in the design and analysis of cold-formed steel structures under fire. However, values of these properties at different temperatures are not well reported. Therefore, both steady and transient tensile coupon tests were conducted at different temperatures ranged approximately from 20 to 1000 °C for obtaining the mechanical properties of cold-formed steel structural material. This study included cold-formed steel grades G550 and G450 with plate thickness of 1.0 and 1.9 mm, respectively. Curves of elastic modulus, yield strength obtained at different strain levels, ultimate strength, ultimate strain and thermal elongation versus different temperatures are plotted and compared with the results obtained from the Australian, British, European standards and the test results predicted by other researchers. A unified equation for yield strength, elastic modulus, ultimate strength and ultimate strain of cold-formed steel at elevated temperatures is proposed in this paper. A full strain range expression up to the ultimate tensile strain for the stress–strain curves of cold-formed carbon steel at elevated temperatures is also proposed in this paper. It is shown that the proposed equation accurately predicted the test results.     

Experimental investigation of cold-formed stainless steel tubular T-joints

This paper describes a test program on a wide range of cold-formed stainless steel welded tubular T-joints fabricated from square and rectangular hollow section brace and chord members. A total of 22 tests was performed. High strength stainless steel (duplex and high strength austenitic) and normal strength stainless steel (AISI 304) specimens were tested. The tests were performed by supporting the chord member of the specimen along its entire length with the pure concentrated force applied to the chord face by the brace member. The ratio of brace width to chord width (β) of the specimens varied from 0.5 to 1.0 so that failure modes of chord face failure and chord side wall failure were observed. The test results were compared with the design procedures in the Australian/New Zealand Standard for stainless steel structures, CIDECT and Eurocode design rules for carbon steel structures. It is shown that the design strengths predicted by the current design specifications are conservative for the test specimens calculated using the 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.5% and 1.0% proof stresses as the yield stresses. The 0.2% proof stress is comparatively more reasonable to predict the design strengths of stainless steel welded tubular T-joints for both ultimate limit state and serviceability limit state. In this study, it is shown that the ultimate limit state controls rather than the serviceability limit state for most of the test specimens.     

Mechanical properties of cold-formed steels at elevated temperatures

Mechanical properties have an important role in the fire safety design of cold-formed steel structures due to the rapid reduction in mechanical properties such as yield strength and elastic modulus under fire conditions and associated reduction to the load carrying capacities. Hence there is a need to fully understand the deterioration characteristics of yield strength and elastic modulus of cold-formed steels at elevated temperatures. Although past research has produced useful experimental data on the mechanical properties of cold-formed steels at elevated temperatures, such data do not yet cover different cold-formed steel grades and thicknesses. Therefore, an experimental study was undertaken to investigate the elevated temperature mechanical properties of two low and high strength steels with two thicknesses that are commonly used in Australia. Tensile coupon tests were undertaken using a steady state test method for temperatures in the range 20–700 °C. Test results were compared with the currently available reduction factors for yield strength and elastic modulus, and stress–strain curves, based on which further improvements were made. For this purpose, test results of many other cold-formed steels were also used based on other similar studies undertaken at the Queensland University of Technology. Improved equations were developed to predict the yield strength and elastic modulus reduction factors and stress–strain curves of a range of cold-formed steel grades and thicknesses used in Australia. This paper presents the results of this experimental study, comparisons with the results of past research and steel design standards, and the new predictive equations.     

Corner properties of cold-formed steel sections at elevated temperatures

This paper presents the mechanical properties of the corner parts of cold-formed steel sections at elevated temperatures. Light-gauge structural members are cold-formed which results the mechanical properties of the corner parts being different from the flat parts. However, previous research has focused on the investigation of the corner parts of cold-formed steel sections at normal room temperature and the performance of the corner parts at elevated temperatures is unknown. An appropriate model for fire resistant design of steel structures necessitates a correct representation of mechanical properties of structural steel at elevated temperatures. Therefore, experimental investigation on corner coupon specimens at different temperatures ranged from approximately 20 to 1000 °C was conducted to study the behaviour of the corner parts of cold-formed steel sections at elevated temperatures. Two kinds of corner coupon specimens, namely the inner corner coupon specimens and outer corner coupon specimens having the steel grade of G500 (nominal 0.2% proof stress of 500 MPa) and nominal thickness of 1.9 mm were tested. The test results were compared with the flat coupon specimens taken from the same cold-formed steel sections as the corner coupon specimens. A unified equation to predict the yield strength (0.2% proof stress), elastic modulus, ultimate strength and ultimate strain of the corner parts of cold-formed steel sections at elevated temperatures is thus proposed in this paper. Generally, it is shown that the proposed equation adequately predicts the test results of the corner coupon specimens. Furthermore, stress–strain curves at different temperatures are plotted and a stress–strain model is also proposed for the corner parts of cold-formed steel sections.     

Experimental investigation of cold-formed lean duplex stainless steel beam-columns

This paper describes a test program on cold-formed lean duplex stainless steel members in combined compression and minor axis bending. The test specimens were cold-rolled from flat strips of lean duplex stainless steel grade EN 1.4162. In this study, square and rectangular hollow sections were compressed at different eccentricities, in order to obtain a beam-column interaction curve for each series of tests. Initial overall geometric imperfections of the members were measured prior to testing. The ultimate loads and the failure modes of each specimen were obtained. The observed failure modes include local buckling, flexural buckling and interaction of local and flexural buckling. The test strengths obtained from this study and other available data were compared with the design strengths predicted by the American Specification, Australian/New Zealand Standard and European Code for stainless steel structures. It should be noted that these specifications do not cover the material of lean duplex stainless steel. Therefore, the suitability of the beam-column design rules in these specifications for lean duplex stainless steel is assessed in this study. Generally, these specifications are capable of predicting the beam-column strengths of the lean duplex stainless steel test specimens, and the design rules in the specifications are considered to be reliable. It is observed that the European Code generally provides quite conservative predictions for the beam-column specimens compared to the American Specification and Australian/New Zealand Standard predictions.     

Experimental investigation of lightweight residential floors supported by cold-formed steel C-shape joists

Presented in this paper are the experimental results of a recent study carried out at the University of Waterloo on vibration characteristics of cold-formed steel-supported lightweight residential floor systems. Laboratory tests were conducted for floors with different spans and assemblies to identify the critical parameters that contribute to the control of floor vibration. Both static and dynamic tests were carried out on the floor systems. On-site tests were also conducted in this study to substantiate the results obtained in the laboratory tests and evaluate the actual vibration performance of cold-formed steel-supported lightweight residential floor systems.     

Experimental investigation on laser welded connections for built-up cold-formed steel beams

A wide experimental investigation on laser welded connections based on both lap-shear and tension tests was performed at the University of Naples. The aim of the study was to assess the possibility of using laser welding in innovative built-up cold-formed steel beams. The experimental programme was designed in order to evaluate the effects of different parameters on the strength and ultimate displacement of the selected connections. In particular, the influence of sheet thickness, gap, loading direction, weld shapes and zinc coating were analyzed. The results of the experimental tests were compared with the predicted resistance values according to Eurocode 3, with the aim of validating for laser welding the mechanical models provided for spot welds.     

An experimental investigation on the seismic behavior of cold-formed steel walls sheathed by thin steel plates

The use of cold-formed steel (CFS) frames has grown extensively in recent years, particularly in the earthquake-prone regions. However, the behavior of lateral resisting systems in CFS structures under seismic loads has not been scrutinized in detail. Towards this, an experimental investigation has been conducted on cold formed steel frames sheathed by thin galvanized steel plates, the results of which are presented here. The experiments involve 24 full-scale steel plated walls tested under cyclic loading with different configurations of studs and screws. Of particular interest were the specimens׳ maximum lateral load capacity and the load-deformation behavior as well as a rational estimation of the seismic response modification factor, R. The study also evaluates the failure modes of the systems. The main factors contributing to the ductile response of these shear walls are also discussed in order to suggest improvements so that the walls respond plastically with a significant drift and without any risk of brittle failure.     

Q690钢材高温后的力学性能试验研究

通过升温、冷却和拉伸试验,对历经300~900℃高温后的Q690钢材在自然冷却和浸水冷却条件下的力学性能展开试验研究。结果表明：经高温冷却的Q690钢材在不同温度和不同冷却方式下有不同的外观特征;受热温度超过500℃时,高温冷却对Q690钢材的弹性模量影响很小,对其强度和伸长率影响较大;当受热温度不超过700℃时,Q690钢材高温后的强度和伸长率在两种冷却方式下具有基本相同的变化规律;在700~800℃之间,不同冷却方式对Q690钢材高温后强度和伸长率产生影响,且随温度升高差别愈加明显,自然冷却条件下强度降低且伸长率增大,浸水冷却条件下强度增大且伸长率减小。将Q690钢材高温后力学性能与Q235钢材和Q460钢材比较,认为不同强度等级钢材高温后的力学性能差别显著,在自然冷却条件下较高强度钢材（Q690）的强度衰减和延性增长大于较低强度钢材（Q235和Q460）的。根据试验结果,建立了不同冷却条件下的高温后各力学参数与受热温度之间的数学模型,该模型可用于火灾后Q690钢结构的承载能力的评估。     

Experimental and numerical investigation on cold-formed steel C-section flexural members

This paper presents an experimental and numerical investigation on the bending strength and behavior of cold-formed steel C-section flexural members with upright, inclined and complex edge stiffeners. A total of 24 specimens that divided into 12 tests including 6 pure bending tests and 6 non-pure bending tests have been conducted. Local buckling, distortional buckling and interaction between local and distortional buckling were observed in the tests. The experimental results show that the edge stiffener and buckling mode have great influence on member’s bending strength. Comparison of the bending strengths under the two bending states show that the bending strength under non-pure bending is higher than which under pure bending, but the increased magnitude is related to the buckling modes. Moment gradient effect has only a minor influence on local buckling, but has great influence on distortional buckling. The tests were simulated by finite element program of ANSYS and the simulated results show good agreement with the experimental results in terms of bending strength and buckling mode.     

Experimental investigation of concrete-filled cold-formed high strength stainless steel tube columns

This paper presents an experimental investigation of concrete-filled cold-formed high strength stainless steel tube columns. The high strength stainless steel tubes had a yield stress and tensile strength up to 536 and 961 MPa, respectively. The behaviour of the columns was investigated using different concrete cylinder strengths varied from 40 to 80 MPa. A series of tests was performed to investigate the effects of the shape of the stainless steel tube, plate thickness and concrete strength on the behaviour and strength of concrete-filled high strength stainless steel tube columns. The high strength stainless steel tubes were cold-rolled into square and rectangular hollow sections. The depth-to-plate thickness ratio of the tube sections varied from 25.7 for compact sections to 55.8 for relatively slender sections. The columns had different lengths so the length-to-depth ratio generally remained at a constant value of 3. The concrete-filled high strength stainless steel tube specimens were subjected to uniform axial compression. The column strengths, load-axial strain relationships and failure modes of the columns were presented. The test strengths were compared with the design strengths calculated using the American specifications and Australian/New Zealand standards that consider the effect of local buckling using an effective width concept in the calculation of the stainless steel tube column strengths. Based on the test results, design recommendations were proposed for concrete-filled high strength stainless steel tube columns.     

Research on cold-formed steel columns

The paper summarises research on cold-formed steel columns performed by the author. Cold-formed steel members are either cold-rolled or brake-pressed into structural shapes. As a result, cold-formed steel open sections are usually singly-point- or non-symmetric. The most common types of singly-symmetric sections are channel and angle. The research focused on cold-formed steel open sections, such as plain and lipped channels, channels with simple and complex edge stiffeners as well as plain and lipped angles, and unequal angles. In addition, cold-formed steel built-up closed sections with intermediate stiffeners were investigated. Both experimental and numerical investigations into the strength and behaviour of cold-formed steel columns were conducted. The column strengths obtained from these investigations were compared with the design strengths obtained using various international standards for cold-formed steel structures. Furthermore, the behaviour and design of cold-formed steel lipped channel columns at elevated temperatures were also investigated. The paper also summarises the design recommendations for cold-formed steel columns.     

控轧控冷型高强钢高温下的力学性能试验研究

通过稳态法进行了控轧控冷(TMCP)型Q550高强钢在不同温度下的力学性能试验研究,得到常温及200～800℃9个不同高温下钢材的表观特征、应力-应变关系与基本力学性能参数,包括弹性模量、屈服强度、抗拉强度及断后伸长率.结果表明:应力-应变关系曲线在常温时有屈服平台而高温下没有,在超过300℃的高温下曲线形状不同;温度...     

钢纤维全轻混凝土力学性能试验研究

为探究钢纤维体积掺量对全轻混凝土力学性能的影响,设计了钢纤维体积掺量为0、1%、2%的全轻混凝土试块,对其进行抗压强度、弹性模量、劈裂抗拉强度以及抗折强度试验,并对试验现象和数据进行对比分析。试验结果表明:钢纤维能有效地限制全轻混凝土试块裂缝的发生和发展,随着钢纤维体积掺量的增加,全轻混凝土的抗压强度、弹性模量、劈裂抗拉强度和抗折强度都得到了大幅度的增加,使全轻混凝土表现出更好的变形能力和承载力。     

Tests of cold-formed high strength stainless steel compression members

The paper describes a test program on cold-formed high strength stainless steel compression members. The duplex stainless steel having the yield stress and tensile strength up to 750 and 850 MPa, respectively, was investigated. The material properties of the test specimens were obtained from tensile coupon and stub column tests. The test specimens were cold-rolled into square and rectangular hollow sections. The specimens were compressed between fixed ends at different column lengths. The initial overall geometric imperfections of the column specimens were measured. The strength and behaviour of cold-formed high strength stainless steel columns were investigated. The test strengths were compared with the design strengths predicted using the American, Australian/New Zealand and European specifications for cold-formed stainless steel structures. Generally, it is shown that the design strengths predicted by the three specifications are conservative for the cold-formed high strength stainless steel columns. In addition, reliability analysis was performed to evaluate the current design rules.     

Experimental and numerical investigation of high strength stainless steel structures

The paper summarises research on high strength stainless steel tubular structures conducted at the University of Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Square and rectangular hollow sections were investigated. The test specimens were cold-rolled from high strength austenitic and duplex stainless steel sheets. The material properties of the test specimens were determined by tensile coupon tests at normal room and elevated temperatures. The initial geometric imperfection and residual stress of the specimens were measured. The experimental and numerical investigation focused on the design and behaviour of cold-formed high strength stainless steel structural members. The results were compared with design strengths calculated using the American, Australian/New Zealand and European specifications for cold-formed stainless steel structures.     

Experimental study on compressive strengths of thick-walled cold-formed sections

This paper describes an experimental study on the compressive strengths of cold-formed thick-walled steel sections. A total of 18 stub columns with plate thickness ranging from 8 to 12 mm were tested to determine the section capacities of the cold-formed thick-walled steel columns. Material properties were obtained from flat and corner tensile coupon tests. Effects of cold forming on material properties were investigated. The stub column test strengths were compared with the design compressive strengths specified by the Australian/New Zealand and Chinese standards for cold-formed steel structures. It has been shown that the design strengths predicted by these two standards using material properties obtained from the flat coupon tests are quite conservative, while the design strengths based on the average design yield stress of the full section are less conservative.