Behavior of stainless steel lipped channel sections subjected to eccentric compression

Copyright © 2015 ISEC Press. The design philosophy of stainless steel requires appropriate recognition of observed material nonlinearity and pronounced strain hardening. A rational method namely, the Continuous Strength Method (CSM) has recently been to incorporate these effects but, in its current form, CSM yields better results for stocky sections. Individual capacities (i.e., pure compression and pure bending) for all types of sections and cross-section resistance against combined loading (i.e.compression plus bending) for RHS and Isections can be predicted using CSM. The current research numerically investigates the performance of stainless steel lipped channel (LC) sections subjected to compression and bending. Nonlinear finite element models are developed and validated using available experimental results, and are consequently used to generate additional results for a wide range of cross-sections through parametric studies. Current CSM guidelines are used to propose a new set of formulations for predicting the section resistance of lipped channel sections subjected to combined loading.