Nonlinear Study on the Mechanical Performance of Built-Up Cold-Formed Steel Concrete-Filled Columns under Compression

Given their numerous functional and architectural benefits,such as improved bearing capacity and increased resistance to elastic instability modes,cold-formed steel(CFS)built-up sections have become increasingly developed and used in recent years,particularly in the construction industry.This paper presents an analytical and numerical study of assembled CFS two single channel-shaped columns with different slenderness and configurations(backto-back,face-to-face,and box).These columns were joined by double-row rivets for the back-to-back and box configurations,whereas they were welded together for the face-to-face design.The built-up columns were filled with ordinary concrete of good strength.Finite element models were applied,using ABAQUS software,to assess mechanical performance and study the influence of assembly techniques on the behavior of cold-formed columns under axial compression.Analytical approaches based on Eurocode 3 and Eurocode 4 recommendations for un-filled and concrete-filled columns respectively were followed for the numerical analysis,and concrete confinement effects were also considered per American Concrete Institute(ACI)standards for face-to-face and box configurations.The obtained results indicated a good correlation between the numerical results and the proposed analytical methodology which did not exceed 8%.The failure modes showed that the columns failed due to instabilities such as local and global buckling.

Numerical Analysis of Cold-Formed Thin-Walled Steel Short Columns with Pitting Corrosion during Bridge Construction

Pitting corrosion is harmful during bridge construction,which will lead to uneven roughness of steel surfaces and reduce the thickness of steel.Hence,the effect of pitting corrosion on the mechanical properties of cold-formed thin-walled steel stub columns is studied,and the empirical formulas are established through regression fitting to predict the ultimate load of web and flange under pitting corrosion.In detail,the failure modes and load-displacement curves of specimens with different locations,area ratios,and depths are obtained through a large number of non-linear finite element analysis.As for the specimens with pitting corrosion on the web,all the specimens are subject to local buckling failure,and the failure mode will not change with pitting corrosion,but the failure location will change with pitting corrosion location;the size,location,and area ratio of pitting corrosion have little influence on the ultimate load of cold-formed thin-walled steel short columns,but the loss rate of pitting corrosion section area has a greater impact on the ultimate bearing capacity.As for the specimen with flange pitting corrosion,the location and area ratio of pitting corrosion have less influence on the ultimate load of cold-formed thin-walled steel short columns,and the section area loss rate has greater influence on the ultimate bearing capacity;the impact of web pitting corrosion on the ultimate load is greater than that of flange pitting corrosion under the same condition of pitting corrosion section area.The prediction formulas of limit load which are suitable for pitting corrosion of web and flange are established,which can provide a reference for performance evaluation of corroded cold-formed thin-walled steel.

Some Advances in the Application of Weathering and Cold-Formed Steel in Transmission Tower

Application of weathering and cold-formed steel in transmission lines can reduce steel consumption and environmental pollution. Some advances in the studies on the weathering and cold-formed steel in transmission tower are introduced. Firstly, corrosion-resistant tests of weathering steel samples under different simulating technical atmospheres were carried out separately for 240 hours. It shows that the corrosion degree of joint samples is higher than that of single chip samples, and the corrosion-resistant performance of weathering steel is superior to common carbon steel. The corrosion-resistance of weathering steel meets with the requirement of transmission tower. Secondly, experiments and finite element analysis for cold-formed angles and a 220kV prototype tower were completed, and the stability coeffi-cient fitting curves as well as the modification formulas of slenderness ratio for cold-formed members were determined. According to the structural characteristics of transmission towers, four sections of cold-formed angles with different sections and slenderness ratios were selected in this study. The finite element model well predicted the buckling behav-iour of the cold-formed members. Ultimate loads calculating by the fitting curve were well agreed to the experimental values, especially for the members with small slenderness ratios. Weight of the cold-formed steel tower can be reduced by more than 5 percent after considering the strength enhancement. Cost of the weathering and cold-formed steel transmission tower is nearly equivalent to that of hot-rolled steel tower with hot galvanizing.

Mechanical Properties of Two Kinds of New Cold-Formed Flange-Closed Welding Section Members

The hollow flange beam(HFB) is a unique cold-formed steel section developed in Australia for use as a flexural member.It′s a particular cross section with two torsion rigid closed triangular flanges and a comparatively flexible web,and it is a type of high efficient cross section.This paper presents two kinds of new cold-formed flange-closed welding sections named HF1 and HF2 according to different section component and parameters of HFB.Nonlinear finite element method has been adopted to investigate the mechanical properties such as buckling mode,deformation process,rigidity,ductility and correlation curve of two kinds of new section members which being subjected to axial compression,flexure,combined compression and bending.Systematical comparisons of the consumed steel quantities of per unit load carrying capacity between new section members and the same section dimensions of cold-formed C-section members have been carried out.Some conclusions can be drawn from above work that the new sections have some superior properties including higher load carrying capacity and section modulus,sufficient section stiffness,and difficult occurrence for the sub element local buckling.The new sections are suitable for bearing flexure,compression,combined compression and bending.The new sections′ consumed steel quantities of per unit load carrying capacity are almost half as those of the same dimension C-section members′.The experimental investigation is carried out further on the new cold-formed flange-closed welding section members and can be used in the practical engineering.

Bond Performance of Adhesively Bonding Interface of Steel-Bamboo Composite Structure

The steel-bamboo composite structure is a newly developed structure,combining phyllostachys pubescens(also called Moso bamboo)plywood and cold-formed thin-walled steel with structural adhesive.The reliability of steelbamboo interface is the premise of composite effect.13 specimens were prepared to investigate the failure modes and mechanism of the steel-bamboo interface on the basis of push-out test,and the strain difference analysis method was proposed to study the distribution of shear stress.The results show that the main failure modes of steel-bamboo interface are adhesion failure and splitting of bamboo plywood.The shear stress is not evenly distributed along the longitudinal direction of the interface,showing a shape of“larger at two ends and smaller in the middle”.The lower end of the interface is the initial location of the interface failure and the shear stress concentration degree is positively correlated with the thickness of the externally bonded bamboo plate.The shear resistance of steel-bamboo interface can be enhanced by improving the adhesion between steel and structural adhesive and ameliorating the quality of bamboo products.

Structural behavior of intermediate length cold-formed steel rack columns with C-stitches

This article presents an experimental and numerical investigation on the strength and performance of intermediate length rack column sections with C-stitches under axial compression. The test program consisted of 10 axial concentric compression tests on columns with and without C-stitches under pin end conditions for two different geometric lengths. Finite element (FE) models were developed using commercial FE package ABAQUS considering material and geometric nonlinearities as well as initial geometric imperfections. The elastic buckling properties of the section were calculated using readily available linear elastic buckling analysis tools based on Generalized Beam Theory (GBT) and Finite Strip Method (FSM). Obtained FE results were compared with those obtained experimentally, and once verified the developed FE modeling technique was used to carry out a parametric study to examine changes in structural response due to variations in length, depth and spacing of C-stitches. Observed influences of C-stitches on the behavior and resistance of the considered columns were carefully analyzed, and key design aspects are presented herein.

Full-Range Compressive Stress-Strain Curves for Cold-Formed 304 Stainless Steel Circular Hollow Sections After Exposure to Vacuum Brazing

With the rapid development of microscale cellular structures, the small-diameter cold-formed welded stainless steel tubes have recently been used for creating the metallic lat- tice topologies with high mechanical properties. In this paper, to obtain the accurate material properties of the circular hollow section （CHS） under pure compression, a series of concentric compression tests are conducted on the millimeter-scale cold-formed 304 stainless steel circu- lar tubular stub columns after exposure to a vacuum brazing process. The tests cover a total of 18 small-diameter stub tubes with measured thickness-to-diameter ratios （t/D） from 0.023 to 0.201. A generalized three-stage nominal stress-strain model is developed for describing the compressive behavior of the post-brazing CHSs over the full strain range. This mechanical model is especially applicable to computer code implementation. Hence, an interactive computer pro- gram is developed to simultaneously optimize three strain hardening exponents （n1, n2, n3） in the expression of the model to produce the stress-strain curve capable of accurately replicating the test data. To further reduce the number of the model and material parameters on which this model depends, this paper also develops five expressions for determining the 2.5% proof stress （ap2）, n2, the ultimate compressive strength （σp3）, n3, and the ultimate plastic strain （p3%） for given experimental values of three basic material parameters （E0, σ0.01, σ0.2）. These expressions are validated to he effective for the CHSs with t/D 〉_ 0.027. The analytically predicted full-range stress-strain curves have generally shown close agreement with the ones obtained experimentally.

Hot-dip galvanizing of cold-formed steel hollow sections: a state-of-the-art review

A good understanding of the effects of galvanizing on the short-and long-term behaviours of steel components is essential for structural design.This review paper is motivated by a series of recent reports on cracking in galvanized cold-formed tubular steel structures and the limitations of current steel product standards and steel design specifications in this field.The steel-related and galvanizing-related factors,different pre-galvanizing countermeasures for brittle cracking and the available technical documents are summarized.An extensive bibliography is provided as a basis for future research and development in this field.

Dynamic material performance of cold-formed steel hollow sections： a state-of-the-art review

This paper presents a literature review focused on the material performance of cold-formed, carbon steel, hollow structural sections under impulsive （highly dynamic） loading. Impulsive loading, represented by impact and blast, is characterized by a very rapid, time-dependent loading regime in the affected members and materials. Thus, the effect of high-strain-rate loading is initially reviewed. Next the material toughness, an important energy-absorption property and one measure of a material＇s ability to arrest fracture, is considered by means of studying the Charpy V-notch behavior. The response of hollow sections under axial and lateral impact loading is then reviewed. Studies of blast on hollow sections, most of which fall under the categories of contact/near-field loading or far-field loading are presented. Under large-scale field blast experiments, cold-formed hollow sections have shown excellent behavior. Software for modeling blast loading and structural response, the latter including single degree of freedom analysis and explicit finite element analysis, is described and discussed.