Numerical analysis on global stability performance of fold-fastened multi-cellular steel walls

Abstract

As a novel cold-formed steel (CFS) built-up closed member, the global stability performance of fold-fastened multi-cellular steel wall (FMSW) under axial compression was numerically investigated in this paper. Firstly, finite element (FE) models of FMSWs that could precisely simulate the global buckling were developed using ABAQUS and validated by existing experiments of CFS built-up members. Then, eight groups of numerical examples were analyzed to explore the effect of different parameters on the global stability performance of FMSWs, including the geometrical dimensions, material property, indented spacing and initial imperfection, where the corresponding global stability coefficients (φ) of FMSWs could be obtained from FE results. The normalized slenderness ratio (λn) of FMSWs was calculated based on the concept of the effective width method (EWM). Finally, the FE results of (φ, λn) were compared with existing stability design curves of steel structures in various codes. It was found that the stability design curve-d specified in Chinese code GB 50017–2017 could achieve a conservative design, and it could provide a valuable reference for designing slender FMSWs in practice.