Buckling of stainless steel square hollow section compression members

This article describes a test program on cold-formed stainless steel square hollow section (SHS) subjected to pure axial compression. A series of tests was compressed between fixed ends. The specimens were cold-rolled from stainless steel sheets. The tests were performed over a range of column lengths, which involved local buckling and overall flexural buckling. Measurements of overall geometric imperfections and material properties of the specimens were conducted. The experimental column strengths were compared with the design strengths predicted by the American, Australian/New Zealand and European specifications for coldformed stainless steel structures. Generally, the three specifications conservatively predict the strengths of the tested fixed-ended cold-formed stainless steel SHS columns. However, the design rules in the Australian/New Zealand Standard are slightly more reliable than the design rules in the American and European specifications. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.