Measurement and assessment of geometric imperfections in thin-walled panels

Abstract

Thin-walled members may be subject to performance limitations arising through local or distortional buckling of slender elements comprising the cross-section of the member, or overall buckling of the member. The effects of structural instability may be aggravated by the presence of geometric imperfections in these elements. An investigation is presented into methods of measuring and assessing geometric imperfections in cold-rolled thin-walled steel panels. These methods can be used to characterise the geometry of prismatic thin-walled members that exhibit performance sensitivity due to geometric imperfections. The measurement procedures investigated include close-range photogrammetry, precise optical levelling, and the use of a co-ordinate measurement machine. The assessment procedure comprises a least-squares spectral decomposition of the measurements to characterise the imperfections existent in the panels under investigation, and estimates of the precision of the derived Fourier coefficients are used to inter-compare the three measurement procedures. The investigation has demonstrated that statistically significant imperfections may exist in thin-walled members at short and medium wavelengths, leading to a reduction in the load carrying capacity. Both optical levelling and the co-ordinate measurement machine technique can yield desirable results, but for high precision work, use of the co-ordinate measurement machine is recommended.