Experimental and Numerical Studies of Ferritic Stainless Steel Tubular Cross Sections under Combined Compression and Bending

An experimental and numerical study of ferritic stainless steel tubular cross sections under combined loading is presented in this paper. Two square hollow section (SHS) sizes—SHS 40×40×2 and SHS 50×50×2 made of Grade EN 1.4509 (AISI 441) stainless steel—were considered in the experimental program, which included 2 concentrically loaded stub column tests, 2 four-point bending tests, and 14 eccentrically loaded stub column tests. In parallel with the experimental investigation, a finite-element (FE) study was also conducted. Following validation of the FE models against the test results, parametric analyses were carried out to generate further structural performance data. The experimental and numerical results were analyzed and compared with the design strengths predicted by the current European stainless steel design code EN 1993-1-4 and American stainless steel design specification SEI/ASCE-8. The comparisons revealed that the codified capacity predictions for ferritic stainless steel cross sections under combined loading are unduly conservative. The deformation-based continuous strength method (CSM) has been extended to cover the case of combined loading. The applicability of CSM to the design of ferritic stainless steel cross sections under combined loading was also evaluated. The CSM was shown to offer substantial improvements in design efficiency over existing codified methods. Finally, the reliability of the proposals was confirmed by means of statistical analyses according to both the SEI/ASCE-8 requirements and those of EN 1990.