Experimental Investigation and Parametric Analysis of the Mechanical Properties of Aluminum Alloy Thin-Walled Hollow Columns under Axial Compression

Abstract

Five specimens were cut from an aluminum alloy thin-walled hollow column to complete a tensile test, and the strength of the aluminum alloy was measured to be 200.18 MPa. The Ramberg–Osgood model was compared with the stress-strain relationship of the test results, and the fitting regression coefficient was more than 0.99. Four groups of axial compression trials of aluminum alloy thin-walled hollow columns with different heights were accomplished, and the test phenomena and data were concurrently observed and recorded. The results show that the axial compressive bearing capacity of aluminum alloy thin-walled hollow columns does not change with the change in column height, the mean value is 73.72 kN, and the corresponding covariance is only 2.14%. Local buckling failures appeared in all of these columns, and the failure locations were distributed at each height of the test pieces. The stiffness of the column decreased with the increase in height and width ratio, and the varying trend between them obeys exponential distribution. The displacement that corresponds to the ultimate load increased with the increase in the height-width ratio, and the increasing trend follows a linear relationship with the change in column height.