Effect of cold forming on compressed carbon and stainless steel struts

摘要

The effects of cold forming on both carbon steel and stainless steel structural members has been the subject of extensive research since the early 1940's. Design codes for carbon steel members have been published in many countries around the world, including BS5950, Part 5 in the UK (Ref 1), the AISI code in the USA (Ref 2), and the new Eurocode 3: Part 1.3 (Ref 3). For stainless steel members there are fewer design codes available, and those that are available, which include the ANSI/ASCE in the USA (Ref 4) and the new Eurocode 3: Part 1.4 (Ref 5), do not give such detailed design recommendations as the carbon steel codes. This paper describes the results obtained from a series of axial compression tests performed on short strut members of plain channel cross section cold formed from carbon steel and Type 304 stainless steel. The corner radius and the material thickness are varied to examine the effects of cold forming on the load capacity of the channels in compression and the results are compared to those obtained from the relevant design codes. Conclusions are drawn on the basis of the comparisons.