Bending Performance of Cold-Formed Thick-Walled Rectangular Steel Beams
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 150, Issue 12
Abstract
An increasing number of cold-formed thick-walled members are being employed in engineering structures. However, research on their bending performance is still lacking, and existing codes are primarily suitable for thin-walled steel members. Therefore, bending tests were conducted on 10 cold-formed thick-walled rectangular beams. The primary test parameters were the width, height, and thickness of the cross section. The material properties, initial geometric imperfections, failure modes, load–deflection curves, ultimate loads, rotation capacities, and load–strain curves of these beams were analyzed. Subsequently, a nonlinear finite-element (FE) model of cold-formed thick-walled rectangular beams was developed. After validating the numerical model with the test results, a parametric study was conducted. The results revealed that the height-to-width, radius-to-thickness, and width-to-thickness ratios significantly affected the plastic development ability of the cross section. With the increase in height-to-width and radius-to-thickness ratios, an existing Chinese design code yielded unsafe limits for the width-to-thickness ratio. Based on the parametric study results, width-to-thickness ratio limits suitable for cold-formed thick-walled cross sections were recommended. Finally, a simplified design method for the bending resistance of cold-formed thick-walled rectangular beams was proposed and validated using experimental and FE model results.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The authors express their sincere gratitude for the financial support provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52192663), the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2018YFC0705503), Chongqing Municipal Construction Science and Technology Plan Project (City SciTech No. 2022-5-6), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2023CDJXY-032).
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 150 • Issue 12 • December 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 27, 2023
Accepted: Jun 25, 2024
Published online: Sep 23, 2024
Published in print: Dec 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Feb 23, 2025
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Analysis (by type)
- Beams
- Bending (structural)
- Cold-formed steel
- Continuum mechanics
- Dynamics (solid mechanics)
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering materials (by type)
- Engineering mechanics
- Failure loads
- Finite element method
- Materials engineering
- Metals (material)
- Methodology (by type)
- Numerical analysis
- Numerical methods
- Solid mechanics
- Static loads
- Statics (mechanics)
- Steel
- Steel beams
- Structural analysis
- Structural dynamics
- Structural engineering
- Structural members
- Structural systems
- Walls
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