Crippling of cold-formed stainless steel circular tubular members under concentrated bearing loads

Abstract

This study presents experimental, theoretical, and numerical investigations on the crippling behaviors of cold-formed stainless steel circular hollow sections (CHS) subjected to concentrated bearing loads. First, a total of twenty-four specimens, six for each loading condition, were tested under four typical loading conditions, namely the end-one-flange, interior-one-flange, end-two-flange and interior-two-flange. Thereafter, yield-line models were established based on the failure modes demonstrated by the tests, and preliminary equations for the crippling strength were derived. Subsequently, finite element models were developed and validated against the test results and used for parametric analysis. The coefficients in the preliminary equations were modified based on the results of the parametric analysis. Finally, a comparison between the test results and prediction of the proposed equations was performed, which indicated that the proposed equations provided accurate predictions for the crippling strengths of cold-formed stainless steel CHS.