Continuous Strength Method for Aluminium Alloy Structures

Aluminium alloys are nonlinear metallic materials with continuous stress-strain curves that are not well represented by the simplified elastic, perfectly plastic material model used in many current design specifications. Departing from current practice, the continuous strength method (CSM) is a recently proposed design approach for non-slender aluminium alloy structures with consideration of strain hardening. The CSM is deformation based and employs a base curve to define a continuous relationship between cross-section slenderness and deformation capacity. This paper explains the background and the two key components - (1) the base curve and (2) the strain hardening material model of the continuous strength method. More than 500 test results are used to verify the continuous strength methodas an accurate and consistent design method for aluminium alloy structures.