Stainless Steel Beam-Columns Behaviour

Abstract

There are several methods for considering the interaction between compression and bending for slender steel members. This is covered by the interaction formula and the general method, currently. For stainless steel, the structural design standards have been developed largely in-line and refer to carbon steel design guidelines. The current stainless steel interaction formula of axial force and bending moment given in EN 1993-1-4 was derived on limited results available. On the other hand, the general method may be used without any change for stainless steel according to the Eurocode despite the non-linear stress-strain behaviour, which obviously could lead to some drawbacks. Hence, the main objective of this paper is to compare the analysis results with existing Eurocode design formulas, the general method and some formula taken from experimental and parametric studies, showing their possible applicability, weaknesses and the need of further development. The conclusions are not applicable for stainless steel only, but they may be used for other non-linear materials such as aluminium alloys to some extent.