Experimental study of local – Distortional interaction of press-braked stainless steel lipped channel beams

Abstract

Stainless steel lipped channel beams are prone to complex buckling modes due to the large width-thickness ratio. An in-depth experimental study of local – distortional interaction of press-braked stainless steel lipped channel beams was conducted. The chemical composition was proved to meet the requirements of European and Chinese standards. A tensile test of four coupons extracted from the press-braked lipped channel beams was carried out to investigate the material properties. A total of 10 specimens composed of 20 press-braked stainless steel lipped channel beams were investigated in the bearing capacity test. The relationship of the vertical displacement of mid-span, vertical displacement of loading points, support rotation, flange deformation and web deformation with the load was obtained, as well as the bearing capacity of each specimen. According to the measured displacement and strain, the development and failure mechanism of local – distortional interaction of stainless steel lipped channel beams were revealed. All test specimens were subjected to local buckling first, then distortional buckling, and finally interaction buckling. Each specimen had a certain post buckling strength. Near the failure load, each specimen experienced a long loading process and showed good ductility. The test results were utilized to assess the existing design methods which were all based on Direct Strength Method for the guidance of engineers. The existing design methods for local – distortional interaction underestimated the bearing capacity of press-braked stainless steel lipped channel beams. The existing design methods for local buckling or distortional buckling of stainless steel beams overestimated the bearing capacity of local – distortional interaction.