Abstract
This paper deals with a study conducted on flexural behavior of cold-formed steel built-up I-beams with hollow tubular flange sections. There were two types of test sections, namely, built-up sections that were assembled with either stiffened or unstiffened channels coupling back-to-back at the web and a hollow tubular rectangular flange at the top and bottom of the web to form built-up I-beam. The flexural behavior along with the strength and failure modes of the built-up sections was examined using the four-point loading system. Nonlinear finite element (FE) models were formulated and validated with the experimental test results. It was observed that the developed FE models had precisely predicted the behavior of built-up I-beams. Further, the verified FE models were used to conduct a detailed parametric study on cold-formed steel built-up beam sections with respect to thickness, depth, and yield stress of the material. The flexural strength of the beams was designed using the direct strength method as specified in American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) for the design of cold-formed steel structural members and was compared with the experimental results and the failure loads predicted from FE models. Since the results were not conservative, a new customized design equation had been mooted and delineated in the study for determining the flexural strength of cold-formed steel built-up beams with hollow tubular flange sections.
Highlights
Cold-formed steel (CFS) sections have been transformed as inherent elements in the construction and building industry due to CFS products that have a larger strength to weight ratio, enhanced stiffness, mass production, and speedy and simple installation [1, 2]
If the web stiffeners are close to the flange, their effectiveness get decreased. erefore, the present study has found that the load carrying the capacity of USW 250 USW 300 USW 200 SW 250 SW 300 SW
A detailed parametric study was done with the aid of the verified finite element (FE) model to calculate the strength and flexural behavior of the hollow flange built-up beam sections. e parametric study was conducted only for the unstiffened hollow flange beam sections as the stiffened web sections did not have any considerable effect on the flexural capacity of beams
Summary
Cold-formed steel (CFS) sections have been transformed as inherent elements in the construction and building industry due to CFS products that have a larger strength to weight ratio, enhanced stiffness, mass production, and speedy and simple installation [1, 2]. Advances in Civil Engineering introduced in Australia [10] These sections performed well against distortional buckling because of the existence of rigid hollow flange sections at the top and bottom of the web. E former process is quite complicated compared with the latter because the hollow flange elements are well-connected (top and bottom of the web) and secured by means of rivet/screw or spot welding. The latter with different grades and thickness can be used for T-section (web and flange) [8]. As per the citations of the AISI standard [20], using direct strength method (DSM), the estimated strength of the beams is compared with the experimental results and the failure load prediction from FE models
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