Testing and design of stainless steel CHS columns

Stainless steel is an increasingly popular construction material due to its combination of durability and favourable mechanical properties. Circular hollow sections (CHS) are widely used due to their aesthetic appeal and structural advantages over open cross-sections. It has been observed from the limited existing stainless steel CHS column buckling dataset that the current Eurocode 3 provisions can be unconservative in their capacity predictions. To address both the limited dataset and the unconservative design provisions, a comprehensive stainless steel CHS column buckling experimental programme has been undertaken. The results of 17 austenitic, 9 duplex and 11 ferritic stainless steel CHS column buckling tests and 10 stub column tests are presented. The programme consisted of five different cross-sections (covering class 1 to class 4 sections) and a wide range of member slendernesses. Based on the assembled data, existing proposals are evaluated and initial design recommendations are made for a safe and efficient stainless steel CHS buckling curve.