Testing and analysis of additively manufactured stainless steel CHS in compression

Abstract

Additive manufacturing, also referred to as 3D printing, has the potential to revolutionise the construction industry, offering opportunities for enhanced design freedom and reduced material use. There is currently, however, very limited data concerning the performance of additively manufactured metallic structural elements. To address this, an experimental and numerical investigation into the cross-sectional behaviour of circular hollow sections (CHS), produced by powder bed fusion (PBF) from Grade 316L stainless steel powder, is presented. The experimental programme comprised tensile coupon tests, initial geometric imperfection measurements and five axially loaded stub column tests on specimens with a range of diameter-to-thickness (D/t) ratios. Similar cross-sectional behaviour to that of conventionally produced stainless steel CHS was observed, with the more slender cross-sections displaying increased susceptible to local buckling. In parallel with the experimental study, numerical simulations were carried out initially to replicate the experimental results and then to conduct parametric studies to extend the cross-sectional capacity data over a wider range of D/t ratios. The generated experimental and numerical results, together with other available test data on stainless steel CHS from the literature, were used to evaluate the applicability of existing design approaches for conventionally formed sections to those produced by additive manufacturing.