The use of cold formed steel profiles is frequent in storage systems. The design of these structures is quite complex due to the particular geometry of their components. The use of thin walled sections, the cold-forming process and the presence of perforations on the elements result in design problems not common in the traditional framed structures. Pallet racks, which are the specific class of storage systems considered in this paper, are usually designed by considering an experimental-theoretical approach. Standards developed for pallet racks prescribe tests to be performed on components or sub-assemblies to evaluate their structural behaviour. In this paper a comparison between the experimental procedure suggested by the main Codes for pallet racks is presented. Furthermore, the experimental activity on base-plate joints under axial eccentric load (base-plate connection test) actually in progress at the University of Trento is presented and the preliminary results are discussed.
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