Moment capacity of perforated cold-formed aluminium channels–Tests, analysis, and design

Abstract

This paper investigates the moment capacity of perforated cold-formed aluminium alloy (CFAA) channel sections through a combination of experimental and numerical studies. In total, 12 new experimental tests were conducted on CFAA with different cross-section sizes, web hole spacing, and numbers of web holes, under pure bending, followed by a numerical study comprising 601 validated finite element (FE) models. In the numerical study, the effects of various parameters were examined, namely web hole size, the number of web holes, section thickness, web depth, and the grade of aluminium alloy. The moment capacities obtained from both the experimental tests and finite element analysis (FEA) were utilized to evaluate the design guidance provided in the Aluminium Design Manual (ADM), Eurocode (EC), Australian and New Zealand Standard (AS/NZ), and the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) standards. Along with the Direct Strength Method (DSM), the Continuous Strength Method (CSM) was also evaluated. The results from both the experimental tests and their FEA indicate that DSM and EC9 are slightly unconservative, by 1% and 9%, respectively. In contrast, ADM is found to be conservative by 10%, whereas CSM is found to be unconservative by 50%.