Experimental investigations of hot-rolled stainless steel channel sections under combined loading

Abstract

Hot-rolled stainless steel structural sections are being manufactured at a lower cost due to the advancement in the metallurgical and hot-rolling fabrication methods in the recent years. In addition, hot-rolled stainless steel channel sections have an appealing resistance due to the attractive combination of material property (e.g. high strength and stiffness, large corrosion resistance, favourable strain hardening). Considering that the research for hot-rolled stainless steel channel sections under combined loading remains limited, an overall experimental programme including initial local imperfection measurements and ten stub columns under combined compression and major axis bending moment and ten stub columns under combined compression and minor axis bending moment, was conducted to investigate the cross-section ultimate resistance of hot-rolled stainless steel channel sections under combined loading about both major and minor principal axis. The collected experimental data including load–mid-height lateral deflection curves, failure loads and deformed failure modes were used to assess the accuracy and consistency of current Eurocode design rules, revealing that the current design code yields rather conservative and scattered resistance predictions for stainless steel channel sections under combined loading; this can be attributed to the fact that the favourable strain hardening exhibited by stainless steel is not considered in the European code.