Reliability Assessment of Eurocode 3 Design Rules for the Minor‐Axis Buckling of HSS I‐section Columns

Abstract

AbstractSince the main purpose of the codes is to provide satisfactory safety levels, the reassessment of the reliability of the current design rules considering the new structural steels, as high strength steels (HSS), is necessary. As the reliability directly depends on several variables, their influence should also be considered. This paper aims to evaluate the influence of the randomness of the geometry, material, initial geometrical imperfections and residual stresses on the minor‐axis flexural buckling resistance of S690 HSS welded I‐section columns and the reliability of the Eurocode 3 [1,2] stability design rules. Monte Carlo simulations were executed to obtain the ultimate resistance of simply‐supported compressive members with slenderness varying from 0.3 to 2.2. The basic variables were stochastically modeled using existing statistical distributions from the literature and each generated element was numerically analyzed by a general‐purpose finite element software. Finally, the influence of the randomness of the basic variables and the safety provided by FprEN1993‐1‐1 [2] is discussed.