Elastic Global Buckling Moments of Cold-rolled Aluminium Alloy Asymmetric Section Beams

Abstract

Cold-rolled aluminium sections are the new products introduced by BlueScope Permalite. These products have illustrated their cost-effectiveness in comparison with the traditional extruded aluminium alloy sections, which has attracted the attention of users and researchers. Research projects on cold-rolled aluminium alloy structures have been carried out to investigate the strengths and behaviors of such members that are the base for the development of the design guidelines for this new structural type. Cold-rolled aluminum alloy sections in the form of thin-walled sections are sensitive to instability. The design guidelines, therefore, have been proposed on the basis of the design of cold-formed steel structures with the development of the Direct Strength Method. The buckling analyses are conducted to determine the elastic buckling load, which is a compulsory step for the application of this method. The buckling analyses for symmetrical sections have been thoroughly investigated whereas these analyses for asymmetric sections are not clearly regulated in the design standards. Based on the experimental and numerical investigations on cold-rolled aluminium asymmetric section beams in a research project conducted at the University of Sydney, the paper will investigate the elastic global buckling moments of these asymmetric beams by using different methods including numerical, experimental and theoretical methods. The investigated results are subsequently discussed to figure out the procedure for the determination of elastic global buckling moments of the investigated cold-rolled aluminium alloy asymmetric section beams.