Research on local buckling capacity of lipped C-section stainless steel beams under weak axis bending

Abstract

In order to obtain the local buckling capacity of lipped C-section stainless steel beams under weak axis bending, local buckling tests were carried out on 6 stainless steel beams under weak axis bending made of Austenitic stainless steel S30408 (AISI304), revealing the mechanical properties and failure mechanism when local buckling occurred, and the failure phenomenon, load–displacement curves, load–strain curves and local buckling capacity of the specimens were obtained. The test results showed that the failure mode of the specimen was local buckling located in the mid-span web, showing a convex or concave mode. The wave peak was near the mid-span section, and the local buckling of the web along the longitudinal direction occurred in multi-wave buckling mode. The refined finite element model of lipped C-section stainless steel beam specimens under weak axis bending was established. The mechanical properties and local buckling bearing capacity of each specimen were simulated and analysed. The accuracy of the refined model was verified by comparing the finite element results with the test results. In order to simplify the finite element simulation analysis, the refined finite element simulation was simplified. Then 4 kinds of imperfection simplification models were established considering different initial imperfections, and 8 kinds of length simplification models were built based on different lengths and support constraints. Detailed comparison and analysis were performed on results of simplified model refined finite element model and tests to verify the accuracy of the simplified model.