Column curves for stainless steel sections exploiting its stress-strain behaviour and response to cold-working

Stainless steel exhibits nonlinear material behaviour which requires somewhat different treatment from the elastic, perfectly-plastic model often used for carbon steel. Moreover, its response to cold-working is far more pronounced when compared to that of carbon steel. Stainless steel columns should therefore be designed using an appropriate material model to include proper allowance for coldworking. The performance of existing design codes – Eurocode 3 Part 1.4 and ASCE 8-02 - has been investigated by comparison against all available test results on stainless steel columns. The observed conservatism and scatter in predictions have led to the formulation of a new set of column curves which are based on a more precise material definition. The basic description by a Perry-Robertson format was retained but modified to include the effects of strain hardening. Predictions from this new approach have been found to be both more accurate and more consistent than the existing codes.