Experimental Investigation of the Interaction of Local and Overall Buckling of Stainless Steel Columns (No. R873)

Abstract

This report describes an experimental program carried out at the University of Sydney to study the interaction of local and overall buckling in stainless steel lipped channels under compression. Three stainless steel alloys were considered: 304, 430 and 3Cr12. A number of tests were carried out to determine the material properties. The results reveal nonlinear stress-strain behaviour with low proportionality limit, anisotropy and enhanced strength as a result of cold-working. A total of 36 column tests were completed with the aim of studying local-overall interaction buckling. The test specimens were designed to fail in the inelastic range to incorporate the effect of the gradual loss of material stiffness into the test results. 18 specimens were tested under a nominally concentric load. The remaining specimens had the load applied with a nominal eccentricity of Le/1500 towards the web. Since the cross-section is singly symmetric, the interaction phenomenon is further affected by the shift in effective centroid resulting from local buckling. This report rectifies the lack of experimental data on local-overall interaction buckling in singly symmetric stainless steel columns. The results will be used in further research, specifically in the development of a reliable finite element model and in the assessment of the current design guidelines.