Structural design rules for elliptical hollow sections

Elliptical hollow sections have been recently added to the family of hot-finished tubular sections, featuring square, rectangular and circular hollow sections. Their usage has attracted considerable interest from industry, and significant recent research towards the development of comprehensive structural design rules has been carried out. Investigations have been performed at both cross-section and member levels and in a range of structural configurations. On the basis of full-scale tests, non-linear numerical simulations and experience gained from studies on other tubular sections, design rules for elliptical hollow sections have been developed. This paper describes the background to and validation of these rules, which include, at cross-section level, a set of slenderness parameters and classification limits for compression and bending, shear resistance formualtions and an interaction curve for combined shear and bending. At member level, column buckling curves have been proposed in harmony with those for structural steel circular hollow sections.