Design recommendations for stainless steel I-sections under concentrated transverse loading

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Recent investigations have highlighted the need for improved provisions for determining the resistance of stainless steel I-sections under concentrated transverse loading. Such provisions, which reflect the particular characteristics of the material, have been developed and are described herein. A review of the existing European design formulae for members under concentrated transverse loading is firstly presented. Then a series of parametric studies, based on validated finite element models are described covering I-sections with a range of web slenderness values and different stainless steel grades. On the basis of the numerical results, together with existing experimental data, revised design equations are presented and assessed through reliability analysis performed in accordance with Annex D of EN 1990. The new provisions yield enhanced ultimate load predictions and are expected to be included in the next revision of EN 1993-1-4.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Testing and numerical analysis of stainless steel I-sections under concentrated end-one-flange loading

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.A comprehensive investigation into the structural behaviour of austenitic stainless steel welded I-section beams under concentrated transverse end-one-flange loading is reported herein. Ten physical experiments are first described. The experimental results are then presented in terms of the full load-web shortening responses, ultimate loads, out-of-plane deformation fields and failure modes. An extensive finite element modelling study accounting for geometric, material and contact non-linearities was also performed. After successful model validation against the test results, a parametric investigation was conducted considering a range of bearing lengths, different distances of the bearing load to the member end and web slenderness values. The combined experimental and numerical data set was used to assess current European and North American design provisions for the resistance of stainless steel welded I-sections to concentrated end-one-flange loading. The results show that the current design formulae generally lead to safe-sided but rather scattered and conservative capacity predictions with considerable scope for the development of improved design formulae.Peer reviewe