Journal of Constructional Steel Research 58 (2002) 14071430 www.elsevier.

com/locate/jcsr

Bending tests to determine slenderness limits for cold-formed circular hollow sections
M. Elchalakani, X.L. Zhao , R. Grzebieta
Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, PO Box 60, Victoria 3800, Australia Received 23 July 2001; received in revised form 7 December 2001; accepted 10 December 2001

Abstract There are signicant differences in slenderness limits recommended in various codes for circular hollow sections (CHS) under bending as there have been little experimental studies. In this paper an attempt is made to establish more accurate slenderness limits for cold-formed circular hollow sections. This paper describes a series of bending tests to examine the inuence of section slenderness on the inelastic bending properties of cold-formed CHS. Twelve bending tests were performed up to failure on different sizes of CHS with diameter-to-thickness ratio d/t ranging from 37 to 122. This range of d/t was obtained by machining as-received coldformed circular hollow sections grade C350L0. The test results are compared with other experimental data and the design rules given in various steel specications. The slenderness limits were established to dene Class 1 (compact), 2, 3 (non-compact) and 4 (slender). These limits were based on modications of criteria for rotation capacity commonly used for steel structures. A design curve was developed and recommended for the design of cold-formed CHS under pure bending. 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Buckling; Slenderness limits; Flexural strength; Cold-formed; Circular tubes

1. Introduction In recent years cold-formed steel hollow sections have become more popular as a construction member and consequently attracted a lot of research efforts to determine their structural properties. Cold-formed tubular sections are manufactured in Australia to meet the quality of AS 1163 [1] while in the US they are manufactured
Corresponding author. Tel.: +61-3-9905-4972; fax: +61-3-9905-4944. E-mail address: zxl@eng.monash.edu.au (X.L. Zhao).
0143-974X/02/$ - see front matter 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 1 4 3 - 9 7 4 X ( 0 1 ) 0 0 1 0 6 - 7

1408

M. Elchalakani et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 58 (2002) 14071430

Nomenclature d dh dhi dv dvi eu En E0 ET I Im L Lm Lf M Mp Mpt My Mo Mu R1 R2 S Sm So SF t Z Zm Ze a ap ac2 ay b

pt

ls lp

Outside diameter of CHS Outside horizontal radius of ovalised tube Inside horizontal radius of ovalised tube Outside vertical radius of ovalised tube Inside vertical radius of ovalised tube Percentage elongation at fracture Youngs modulus of elasticity (200 GPa) Measured initial Youngs modulus Tangent modulus Second moment of area Second moment of area based on measured dimensions Beam length under constant moment Machined length Free deformation length Applied moment Full plastic moment of the cross section Plastic moment based on measured dimensions and material properties First yield moment Ovalisation moment Ultimate moment obtained in a test Rotation capacity dened in eq. (1) Rotation capacity dened in eq. (2) Plastic section modulus Plastic section modulus based on measured dimensions Plastic section modulus of an ovalized tube Shape factor Thickness of CHS Elastic section modulus Measured elastic modulus Effective section modulus Non-dimensional local buckling parameter Plastic buckling parameter Buckling parameter to dene Class 2 sections Yield buckling parameter Ratio of inside diameter to outside diameter of CHS Curvature Curvature corresponds to Mpt Section slenderness dened in AS 4100 Plastic slenderness limit dened AS 4100

M. Elchalakani et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 58 (2002) 14071430

1409

ly lc2
y yn yt un ut

q qmax qu qy

Yield slenderness limit dened in AS 4100 Section slenderness limit to dene Class 2 sections Yield stress Nominal tensile yield stress and measured tensile yield stress Nominal ultimate tensile strength and measured ultimate tensile strength Relative angle of rotation Inelastic rotation at the plastic hinge Inelastic rotation dened in Fig. 1 Rotation corresponds to My

Fig. 1. The classical denition for rotation capacity based on normalised moment-rotation relationships [1618].

to the quality of ASTM-A500 [2]. Cold-formed steel framed houses become cost effective compared to those constructed from timber particularly in North America [3]. Cold-formed tubular members are currently used more often in modern steel construction worldwide mainly as space trusses and frames. The Colonial Stadium in Melbourne used 6000 tons of structural steel mainly cold-formed circular tubes [4]. The Sydney Olympic Aquatic Centre utilised 13 km of tubular sections, while the construction of the Year 2000 Sydney Olympic Stadium required 12000 tons of structural steel work mainly cold-formed tubular members [5]. In addition, coldformed tubular sections are used in other structures, such as: the construction of steel

1410

M. Elchalakani et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 58 (2002) 14071430

communication towers and truss bridges; crane booms; lightening poles and high way sign supports [6]. An interesting state-of-the art on cold-formed steel structures has been presented by Hancock [7] and more recently by Rondal [8]. A summary of the research performed on cold-formed steel structures in Australia was presented in Hancock et al. [9]. Local buckling may affect the bending behaviour of circular tubular sections. Steel design specications dene different classes of cross sections depending on the point at which local buckling occurs during bending [10]. In a number of specications, such as AS 4100 [11] and AISC-LRFD [12] sections can be classied as compact, noncompact or slender. In other specications such as Eurocode [13], CAN 16.1 [14] and BS 5950 [15] sections are classied as Class 1, 2, 3 or 4. Fig. 1 shows the normalised moment-rotation relationship for compact, noncompact and slender sections based on a rotation capacity dened as [16,17,18] R1 qu / qy 1 (1) where qu/qy is a dimensionless inelastic rotation dened in Fig. 1 and qy is the yield rotation corresponds to the moment causes yield in the outermost bres (My). Class 4 or slender section fails by elastic buckling before the attainment of My. Class 4 circular section was studied experimentally and theoretically by Donnell [19], Otsuka and Koga [20,21] and more recently by Elchalakani et al. [22]. Class 3 circular section buckles inelastically at a moment between My and the fully plastic moment Mp. A rotation capacity R1 1 measured at My is required for Class 3 circular section. A Class 2 circular section can obtain a moment of Mp but can not sustain this moment for adequate inelastic rotation (R1 1 at Mp). Class 2 and 3 circular sections are grouped together as noncompact sections in AS4100 [11] and AISC-LRFD [12]. These noncompact sections were studied by Murray and Bilston [23] and Ju and Kyriakides [24]. Class 1 circular section can maintain Mp for sufciently large rotations (R1 3 at Mp) to allow for moment redistribution in the plastic design of a framed structure. A slightly larger value of R 4, based on normalised curvatures rather than rotations, is recommended by Korol and Huboda [25] to dene a compact section. Class 1 circular section was studied experimentally and theoretically by Brazier [26], Mamalis [27], Kyriakides and Shaw [28,29,30] and Wierzbicki and Sinmao [31]. Class 1 circular section received much research efforts as it comprises the most commonly used d/t ratios in inland and offshore construction. Table 1 shows the large differences in section slenderness limits (particularly for the yield limit ly) specied in a number of steel specications. A wider range of codes is compared in Rondal et al. [32]. A related paper [33] dealt with compact cold-formed circular section, and a plastic slenderness limit to dene this class was obtained. The current paper mostly deals with noncompact and slender sections, while compact section is briey reviewed. A series of bending tests are described to examine the inuence of section slenderness on the rotation capacity of cold-formed CHS. Twelve bending tests were performed up to failure on different sizes of CHS with d/t ranging from 37 to 122 (or ls ranging from 60 to 200). The large range of d/t was obtained by machining cold-formed circular hollow sections grade C350L0. The test results are compared with the design

M. Elchalakani et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 58 (2002) 14071430

1411

Table 1 Cross section classication AS 4100 [11] (1) ls 50 Compact 50 ls 120 Non-compact AISC-LRFD [12] (2) ls 50 Compact 50 ls 250 Non-compact Eurocode 3 [13] & NZS 3404 [42] Proposed CIDECT [32] (3) (4) (5) ls 50 Class 1 ls 60 Class 1 ls 60 Compact 47 ls 66 Class 50 ls 65 60 ls 88 60 ls 140Non2 Class 2 Class 2 compact 66 ls 84 Class 65 ls 170 88 ls 140 3 Class 3 Class 3 ls 84 Class 4 ls 170 Class 4 ls 140 Class 4 ls 140 Slender ls 47 Class 1

ls 120 Slender

ls 250 Slender

rules given in various codes. The newly obtained slenderness limits and design model are discussed towards the end of the paper.

2. Previous relevant bending tests of CHS Sherman [34] reported the results of 53 four-point bending tests including coldformed (electric-resistance welded), fabricated (submerged or manual arc welded) and hot-formed seamless cylinders. These tests form the database used to derive most of the current design rules (see Fig. 2). Shermans own testing program [35]

Fig. 2. Design rules for CHS and available test results.

1412

M. Elchalakani et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 58 (2002) 14071430

included 21 constant-moment tests with d/t ranging between 17 and 90 (ls=19 to 149) and 8 cantilever tests with d/t =28 to 72 (ls =39 to 78). A total of 16 specimens had ls 57, ie. noncompact and slender sections (according to [12]). In these tests, the loads were applied and reacted through gravity load simulators to prevent any axial load due to chord shortening. The buckling failures occurred away from the load xtures that would prevent ovalisation. In the constant-moment tests the lengthto-diameter ratio was L/d=4. Fig. 2 summarizes the test results obtained in constantmoment [34] and pure bending [33], whereas the cantilever test results [35] are not shown. The ultimate strength (Ze/Z) is plotted against the slenderness parameter (ls), where Ze is the effective section modulus, and Z is the elastic section modulus. A conversion factor of Ze/Z =1.273Mu/Mp was used to convert the test data to AS 4100 [11] format. The main conclusions drawn by the present authors from the 53 tests [34] are: The bending strength for hot-formed seamless pipes are generally larger than the corresponding strength for fabricated and cold-formed pipes. The plastic moment Mp was reached for fabricated cylinders made of ASTM-A36 steel with average au/ y =1.6 [35]. In a number of the tests (with ls 57) Mp could not be achieved, which was attributed to lack of strain hardening in the material used to fabricate the cylinders with average u/ y =1.4 [35]. Similar conclusions were drawn for cold-formed CHS with u/ y =1.23 [33] where ovalisation was also considered as part of the reasons. The section yield slenderness limit of circular tubes is ly= 250. This later value is the same specied as that in the AISC-LRFD [12] specication. Tubes with ls 50 reached the plastic moment Mp and have adequate rotation capacity which is in the range of 4 R2 25.5 (where R2 is dened in eq. (2)). Tubes with section slenderness in the range of 50 ls 57 reached Mp, but have comparatively smaller rotation capacity in the range of 2.4 R2 4.5. The slenderness limit lp=57 to dene a compact section is specied in the AISC-LRFD [12]. A smaller value of ls=36 is recommended for plastic design in [12]. Machined specimens tested by Schilling [36] with ls 90 were able to achieve the plastic moment in Schilling tests [36]. The machined length-to-diameter ratio was Lm/d=1.3. This was due to the relatively small Lm/d, which restricted ovalisation, but not due to the machining operation itself. The non-dimensional buckling parameter ac2=8.2 (lc2 =97) can be interpreted (based on R1 1 at My) from the test results to dene Class 2 section for fabricated cylinders tested in [35]. The classical denition of rotation capacity dened by Korol and Huboda [25] for tubular sections is not suitable for CHS. The rotation capacity of CHS was redened as R2 qmax 1 qy (2)

qmax is the rotation corresponding to the formation of plastic hinge [33] and qy is

M. Elchalakani et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 58 (2002) 14071430

1413

the rotation corresponding to the rst yield moment (My). The section slenderness ls [11] and non-dimensional buckling parameter a [34] are shown below: ls d sy . t 250 E sy d t
y

(3)

(4)

where d is the outside diameter, t is the tube wall thickness, and E is the elastic modulus.

is the yield stress

3. Material properties The tensile coupons were prepared and tested according to the Australian Standard AS 1391 [37] to determine the initial Youngs modulus (E0), the yield stress (syt), the ultimate tensile strength (sut) and the percentage elongation (eu) at fracture. The tensile specimens were tested in a 500 kN capacity Baldwin Universal Testing Machine. The measured values of E0, syt (0.2% proof stress), sut and eu are shown in Table 2. It can be seen in Table 2 that the average ratio of the measured sut/syt =1.25, the average percentage elongation eu=26% and the average yield stress syt=404 MPa. These later values are larger than the minimum specied to meet the ductility requirements in AS/NZS 4600 [38] of sut/syt =1.08 and eu=10%. Also, these
Table 2 Tensile coupons test results Specimenno. (1) TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4 TB5 TB6 TB7 TB8 TB9 TB10 TB11 TB12 Mean COV E0GPa (2) 190.9 190.9 190.9 190.9 212.3 191.2 191.2 191.2 199.8 212.3 217.9 191.2 197.6 0.05
ytMPa (3) utMPa (4) ut/ (5) yt yt/ (6) yn ut/ (7) un

E0/En (8) 0.95 0.95 0.95 0.95 1.06 0.96 0.96 0.96 1.00 1.06 1.09 0.96 0.99 0.05

eu % (9) 26 27 28 29 30 19 19 19 34 30 28 19 26 0.21

408 408 408 408 410 404 404 404 365 410 412 404 404 0.03

510 510 510 510 501 505 505 505 469 501 502 505 503 0.02

1.25 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.22 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.28 1.22 1.22 1.25 1.25 0.01

1.17 1.17 1.17 1.17 1.17 1.15 1.15 1.15 1.04 1.17 1.18 1.15 1.15 0.03

1.19 1.19 1.19 1.19 1.17 1.17 1.17 1.17 1.09 1.17 1.17 1.17 1.17 0.02

1414

M. Elchalakani et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 58 (2002) 14071430

values meet a number of key plastic design requirements in AS 4100 [11], such as 450 MPa. sut/syt =1.2, eu=15% and sy 4. Pure bending test specimens and procedure 4.1. Specimens A total of 12 specimens were tested in the pure bending rig. The steel sections used in the preparation of the specimens were cold-formed circular hollow sections (CHS) grade C350L0 with nominal yield stress of 350 MPa produced by Palmer Tube Mills in Australia. Table 3 shows the measured dimensions of the specimens. The range of section slenderness examined in this paper is 59.9 ls 198.9 (d/t=36.4 to 121.9). AS4100 [11] and the recently obtained plastic slenderness limit in [33] were used to dene the classication of the specimens. Although the compact behaviour was studied in Elchalakani et al. [33], one compact section B11 was selected to examine the effect of machining on the inelastic bending properties of cold-formed CHS. Six specimens (B5, B7 to B10 and B12) were chosen to represent the noncompact behaviour with 60 ls 120. Five specimens (B1 to B4 and B6) were chosen to represent the slender behaviour with ls 120. The calculated elastic stiffness (E0Im), plastic moment capacity (Mpt) and plastic curvature ( pt) are listed in Table 4. The measured material properties are used in calculating Mpt which in turn was used to determine pt=Mpt/E0Im. The necessary d/t ratios required for the investigation were obtained by machining all the as-received CHS to the required thickness. The total length of the specimen was 1500 mm long, while the middle machined length was Lm=600 mm. Specimens B1 to B4 were lled with plaster from the ends to avoid premature instability at the transition from the as-received section to the machined section. The tube was inserted vertically in a double jacket mould container lled with plaster. The internal jacket was about 30 mm in diameter to pervert air entrapment. A 400 mm length gap was left in the middle of the specimen unlled. The free deformation length for specimens B1 to B4 is Lf=400 mm, while Lf=600 mm for B5 to B12. This makes the minimal free deformation length-to-diameter ratio equals Lf/d=3.62 which occurs at B4 (see Table 3). This later value is favourably more than the recommended minimal value of Lf/d=2 [39] to eliminate the effect of load xtures on the bending properties. This allows the formation of local buckles without end effects and the development of full inelastic rotation of the cross section. 4.2. Test procedure A unique pure bending rig was used to test the bending specimens. This rig was designed and fully commissioned at Monash University [39]. The advantage of this rig is its ability to apply a pure bending moment over the middle span of the test specimen without inducing signicant axial or shear forces. Fig. 3 shows schematic of the pure bending rig and its key components. The machined length (Lm), bending

Table 3 Measured dimensions of specimens Lf/d d/t Section slenderness ls Buckling coefcient a

Specimen no. Nominal size d x t (mm x mm)

Average measured dimensions

(1) 1.10 1.00 0.90 1.25 1.70 1.20 1.40 1.60 1.80 2.30 2.40 2.10 376.83 342.26 307.75 428.80 517.72 368.09 430.32 492.80 555.53 704.79 640.39 650.10 3.63 3.64 3.65 3.62 6.09 6.07 6.05 6.02 6.00 6.01 6.87 5.96 100.1 109.9 121.9 88.3 58.0 82.3 70.9 62.3 55.6 43.4 36.4 47.9 163.3 179.4 198.9 144.1 95.1 133.1 114.5 100.6 81.1 71.2 59.9 77.4

(2)

dm (mm) tm (mm) (3) (4) (6) (7) (8)

Area, Am (mm2) (5)

(9) 4.7 4.3 3.8 5.3 8.9 5.7 6.7 7.6 9.9 11.9 14.5 9.9

M. Elchalakani et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 58 (2002) 14071430

B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9 B10 B11 B12

114.3 114.3 114.3 114.3 101.6 101.6 101.6 101.6 101.6 101.6 88.9 101.6

x x x x x x x x x x x x

3.2 3.2 3.2 3.2 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.6 3.2 3.2 2.6

110.1 109.9 109.7 110.4 98.6 98.8 99.2 99.6 100.0 99.8 87.3 100.6

1415

1416

Table 4 Mechanical properties of specimens Yield moment Ovaling moment Mo My=Zm. y (kN.m) (kN.m) (5) 4.15 3.77 3.39 4.72 5.06 3.58 4.19 4.80 4.89 6.88 5.45 6.34 4.95 4.50 4.04 5.64 6.08 4.29 5.02 5.77 5.88 8.32 6.61 7.64 5.33 4.84 4.35 6.08 5.83 5.32 4.89 5.61 6.34 7.98 7.13 8.35 1.78 1.78 1.79 1.78 1.80 1.96 1.95 1.95 1.68 1.77 1.99 1.93 (6) (7) (8) (9) 3.88 3.89 3.90 3.87 3.92 4.28 4.26 4.24 3.65 3.87 4.33 4.20 Plastic moment qy Mpt( kN.m) (Deg.) kyt My/E0Im kpt Mpt/E0Im Shape (105 mm 1) (105 mm 1) factor Sm/Zm (10) 4.99 5.00 5.00 4.98 4.52 6.34 4.97 4.96 4.73 4.49 5.67 5.54 (11) 1.29 1.28 1.28 1.29 1.29 1.29 1.29 1.29 1.30 1.30 1.31 1.30

Specimen Second no. moment of area, Im(106 mm4) (1) (2) 13.07 11.86 10.65 14.89 15.96 11.43 13.39 15.37 17.36 21.87 17.30 20.38

Elastic section Plastic modulus, section Zm(103 mm3) modulus, Sm (103 mm3) (3) (4)

M. Elchalakani et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 58 (2002) 14071430

B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9 B10 B11 B12

0.56 0.51 0.46 0.64 0.61 0.44 0.51 0.59 0.67 0.84 0.58 0.79

10.17 9.23 8.30 11.57 12.33 8.87 10.37 11.88 13.40 16.79 13.23 15.68

M. Elchalakani et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 58 (2002) 14071430

1417

Fig. 3.

Pure bending rig.

moment and shear force diagrams, and relative angle of rotation (q) of a specimen are shown in Fig. 4. Adequate modelling of the boundary conditions is of prime importance in the analysis of buckling problems. Therefore, the specimen was carefully mounted on the two load application wheels and positioned using saddle clamps that were fabricated to suit each tube size. The intention of these clamps was to provide full bearing of the load onto the specimen thus reducing the localised stress raiser particularly at the inside 40 mm diameter loading pins. The specimen was positioned horizontally on the saddles to have its weld seam levelled with its centroid. The moment was applied to the specimen using a hydraulic pump connected to two hydraulic jacks through a manifold. The presence of the manifold ensured that the load applied by both jacks was approximately the same. The jacks are connected to the load application wheels on either side of the test specimen. Extension of the jacks causes the load application wheels to rotate opposite to each other and hence apply a bending moment to the specimen via four load application pins. In order to determine the moment-curvature (M- ) curve, it was necessary to measure the change of six key angles and jack loads. Four inclinometers were attached to the rig, one on each side of the load application wheels and one on each side of the hydraulic jacks. In addition, two inclinometers where attached directly (by a magnet) to the top side of the specimen to measure the relative angle of rotation. The applied bending moment was determined from the measured angular rotations and forces from the load cells attached to the jacks. The inclinometers were calibrated using a Divided Head set to a 30 degree range and 2.0 kN intervals. The load cells were calibrated using a Mohr and Federhaff Universal testing machine set to a 10 kN range and 1.0 kN intervals. The curvatures were determined from the inclinometers (attached directly to the ends of the specimen) then were used in plotting

1418

M. Elchalakani et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 58 (2002) 14071430

Fig. 4.

Bending moment and shear force diagrams.

M- curves. The curvature was determined as =q/(LAB a) [see Fig. 4 for denition of these terms]. The load cells and inclinometers were connected to a standard data logger through an amplier. The sampling rate was carried out at one second intervals. The test was interrupted for a few minutes at about 2 to 5 degrees relative rotation to allow for measurements and photographs. Ovalisation of the cross section was measured using a newly constructed device. The device comprises a frame and a linear displacement measuring device (string pot). A centre punch was used to locate (at mid span) two positioning holes approximately 0.5 mm in diameter in the tube to allow attaching the string pot and the frame to the tube (top and bottom). The drilling holes have no inuence on the mechanism forming as shown in Fig. 5 (a). The string pot was calibrated using a standard micrometer before testing. The ovalisation measuring device was capable of measuring the distortions occuring only in the plane of bending (see Fig. 3). Initial ovalisation before the start of the test was measured at eight locations along the machined length, and found to be small and of the order of 0.2 mm.

M. Elchalakani et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 58 (2002) 14071430

1419

Fig. 5. Compact CHS under pure bending. (a) B11 at q=40 ls=59.9 (smooth kink); (b) normalised moment-curvature response for compact sections.

5. Test results 5.1. Compact sections Elchalakani et al. [33] examined compact cold-formed CHS under pure bending. Consequently, only the effect of machining on inelastic bending properties of com-

1420

M. Elchalakani et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 58 (2002) 14071430

pact CHS is examined in the following. Columns 4, 5 and 6 of Table 5 show the ultimate moment obtained in the tests normalised using the yield moment My, the ovalisation moment Mo and the full plastic moment Mpt, respectively. My Mo Mpt Zmsyt Sosyt Smsyt 4 2 (d d d2 d )s 3 v h vi hi yt (5) (6) (7)

where Zm and Sm are the measured elastic and plastic section moduli of the tube, respectively. yt is the measured yield stress. So is the plastic section modulus of an ovalised tube, dh=0.55d and dv=0.45d are the external horizontal (normal to plane of bending) and vertical (in the plane of bending) radii of an ovalised tube, respectively. These values are based on 10% uniform ovalisation measured in [33]. The internal horizontal and vertical radii are dhi =(dh t) and dvi =(dv t), respectively. Column 7 of Table 5 summarises the rotation capacity determined from.eq. (2) One specimen B11 with ls=59.9 (machined to thickness required) was tested and compared to the as-received specimen BC2 tested in [33]. B11 did not achieve Mpt as for BC2 (see Table 5). Fig. 5a shows a plastic hinge formed in B11 at q=40 bending rotation. This smooth kink was the typical failure mode obtained for the compact tubes tested in [33]. Fig. 5b shows the normalised moment (M/Mpt) versus normalised
Table 5 Pure bending test results Specimen no. Ultimate moment Mu (kN.m) Maximum Normalised ultimate moment rotation qmax (Deg.) Mu/My (4) 0.94 0.97 1.01 0.96 1.14 1.21 1.17 1.12 1.09 1.29 1.04 1.18 1.093 0.1013 Mu/Mo (5) 0.79 0.82 0.85 0.80 0.95 1.01 0.98 0.93 0.91 1.07 0.86 0.98 0.913 0.0980 Mu/Mpt (6) 0.73 0.76 0.79 0.75 0.99 0.81 1.01 0.96 0.84 1.11 0.80 0.90 0.871 0.1396 Rotation capacity R2=(qmax qy)/qy

(1) B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9 B10 B11 B12 Mean Coefcient of variation

(2) 3.89 3.67 3.42 4.53 5.78 4.33 4.92 5.38 5.35 8.89 5.67 7.50 ---

(3) 1.79 1.71 1.83 1.71 3.77 3.35 3.84 3.29 3.60 4.90 11.23 8.05 ---

(7) 0.01 0.04 0.02 0.04 1.10 0.71 0.97 0.69 1.15 1.76 4.65 3.18 ---

M. Elchalakani et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 58 (2002) 14071430

1421

curvature ( / pt) curves for B11 and BC2. The normalised strength Mu/Mpt=0.8 and 0.9 for B11 and BC2, respectively. The rotation capacity (as given in eq. (2)) R2=4.65 and 5.57 for B11 and BC2, respectively. It appears that machining reduced the normalised strength by 11% and the rotation capacity by 16.5%. Based on this limited comparison, the design recommendations made in the following section may be considered as favourably conservative. 5.2. Noncompact sections Fig. 6a shows a plastic hinge formed in B5 at q=15 bending rotation. This nonsymmetric buckling mode was the typical failure mode obtained for the noncompact CHS. Fig. 6b shows the normalised moment (M/Mpt) versus normalised curvature ( / pt) curves for B5, B7 to B10 and B12. It is seen that the peak is relatively sharper than that obtained for compact sections in Fig. 5b. In general, after the formation of the plastic hinge the radial deformation was somewhat conned to the region of the plastic mechanism and the load carrying capacity decreased. Some ovalisation deformations extended beyond the plastic hinge region. The collapse of the noncompact sections was relatively rapid and occurred at smaller rotations when compared with compact sections. A lock-up in the mechanism can be identied for B7 by a second peak on the unloading curve in Fig. 6 of / pt of 8. Similar phenomenon for SHS was observed in [36]. Plastic mechanism analysis used by Grzebieta [40] and Kawata et al. [41] for the analysis of the so-called Yoshimura patterns (diamond indentations) observed for cylinders under axial load may be useful in modelling the non-symmetric mode observed for noncompact CHS. 5.3. Slender sections Fig. 7a shows a plastic hinge formed in B2 at q=8 bending rotation. Sections with ls 140 all failed by elastic buckling and formed the non-symmetric mode in Fig. 7a. This failure mode is similar to the one obtained for noncompact sections in Fig. 6a, however more folds around the circumference were found for slender sections. Fig. 7b shows the normalised moment (M/Mpt) versus normalised curvature ( / pt) curves for B1 to B4 and B6. B6 has ls=133.1 which is classied in AS 4100 [11] as slender section. It is seen that the moment-curvature response is very similar to those for noncompact sections shown in Fig. 6b. This emphasis the suitability of the proposed ly=140 in Section 6 of the present paper. In general, the peak in Fig. 7 is very sharp when compared with curves obtained for noncompact sections in Fig. 6b except for B6. The collapse of the slender sections was very rapid and occurred at approximately q=qy. 5.4. Ovalisation Fig. 8 shows the average measured ovalisation at the ultimate moment Mu in the present and previous tests [33]. The ovalisation is dened as % dv=[100(d dv)/d], where dv is the reduced diameter of the cross section in the plane of bending due

1422

M. Elchalakani et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 58 (2002) 14071430

Fig. 6. Noncompact CHS under pure bending. (a) B5 at q=15 ls=95.1 (non-symmetric mode); (b) normalised moment-curvature response for noncompact sections.

to ovalisation and d is the initial outside diameter of the CHS. The average measured % dv was larger for smaller d/t ratios and of the order of 10, 5, 1 for compact [33], noncompact and slender sections, respectively. The accumulation of ovalisation was very rapid with increasing bending rotations for specimens with larger d/t. It may be concluded that the instability of compact and noncompact CHS is controlled by attening (ovalisation) when compared to slender sections. Similar conclusions were given in Otsuka and Koga [20,21]. Two types of ovalisation were observed in the tests; i.e. before and after the formation of the plastic hinge. Different analytical

M. Elchalakani et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 58 (2002) 14071430

1423

Fig. 7. Slender CHS under pure bending. (a) B2 at q=8 ls=179.4 (non-symmetric mode); (b) normalised moment-curvature response for slender sections.

treatments of these two types of ovalisation are discussed in Wierzbicki and Sinmao [31].

6. Slenderness limits It was concluded in Elchalakani et al. [33] that the as-received compact CHS did not achieve Mpt due to the combined effect of low strain hardening capacity measured by an average value of u/ y=1.23 and ovalisation. It is currently unknown how the

1424

M. Elchalakani et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 58 (2002) 14071430

Fig. 8. Average measured ovalisation in the tests for compact [33], noncompact and slender CHS (this paper).

strain hardening of a CHS interacts with the ovalisation prior to the formation of the plastic hinge. Previous research [23] showed that the instability of a CHS in the elasticplastic range is controlled by the tangent modulus (ET) and a graphical procedure was developed to determine the buckling strength. The intersection point of the stressstrain curve ( e) and ET e curve (both curves plotted on the same graph) was used to determine the critical buckling stress under bending. However ovalisation was not accounted for in this graphical procedure. In our previous tests [33], strain measurements indicated that the cross section fully yielded, but the tube has taken an oval shape before the formation of the local buckling (smooth kink mode). This oval section has smaller plastic section modulus (So) compared to the corresponding one for the initial undistorted circulrrar section (Sm). Therefore it was necessary to modify the classical denition for rotation capacity by using eq. (2)where it is implied that a compact section shall have adequate rotation capacity at My instead of Mp recommended in [16,17,18]. The rotation capacities R2 for B1 to B12 are listed in column 7 of Table 5. These values and those obtained in [33,35] are plotted against the non-dimensional buckling parameter (a) in Fig. 9. The plastic slenderness limit ap=14 (lp=60), based on a sharp transition in the rotation capacity was obtained in [33]. The rotation capacity (R2) at the transition point (ap=14) is about 5.57 in Fig. 9.

M. Elchalakani et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 58 (2002) 14071430

1425

Fig. 9. Normalised inelastic rotation versus non-dimensional buckling parameter.

A modied criterion is adopted to dene Class 2 section based on R1 at My instead of Mp recommended in [1618]. It is seen in Fig. 9 that, CHS with a 8.93 satisfy this requirement. This limit of ac2=8.93 can be converted to the section slenderness limit (lc2) where E is expressed in MPa: lc2 d t
limit

sy 250

E / sy sy ac2 250

E ac2250

(8)

After substituting the average measured value of E0=1.98105 MPa (see Table 2) in eq. (8) lc2=88 is obtained. Fig. 2 and Table 5 show that all sections with ls 140 achieved My in the tests. Note that a value of Ze/Z=1 in Fig. 2 corresponds to Mu/My=1 in the tests. Therefore, it appears that a satisfactory yield slenderness limit ly=140 is suitable for cold-formed CHS. It is interesting to see a similar transition in constant-moment tests [34] in Fig. 2 at about ls=140. The newly obtained limits in this paper for lp=60, lc2=88 and ly=140 are compared with the slenderness limits in the current steel specications in Table 1. It seems that these new limits are somewhat larger than the current ones, except for the yield limit specied in AISC-LRFD [12]. 7. Design recommendations The classication of compact, non-compact and slender sections are based on the slenderness limits derived in the previous section. The nominal moment capacity Ms can be calculated in the same format as given in AS4100 [11], i.e.

1426

M. Elchalakani et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 58 (2002) 14071430

Ms

fyZe

(9)

where fy is the yield stress of CHS and Ze is the effective section modulus given below. 7.1. Compact sections Since the full plastic moment Mpt was not reached in the present tests or previous tests for compact CHS [33], and the ovalisation moment Mo shown in eq. (6) gave good prediction of the ultimate moment capacity for compact sections, it is proposed in this paper that Ze be taken as the plastic section modulus of an ovalised tube So with 10% uniform ovalisation, i.e. Ze So 4 2 (d d d2 d ) 3 v h vi hi (10)

where dh=0.55d, dv=0.45d, dhi =(dh t) and dvi =(dv t). A ratio of Ze/Z is often used in comparing different codes as shown in Fig. 2 where Z is the elastic section modulus of CHS which is given by Z in which, b d 2t d 1 2 (d / t) (12) p 3 d (1 b4) 32 (11)

The ratio of Ze/Z can be written in terms of (d/t), i.e. Ze Z d 4 0.1113 3 t

3 2 d d 0.45 1 0.55 1 t t p d 3 [1 b4] 32 t

(13)

The ratio of Ze/Z is plotted in Fig. 10 against d/t for compact CHS sections with d/t ranging from 5 to 50. It can be seen that a lower bound of Ze/Z of 1.2 is obtained. Therefore eq. (10) can be simplied to: Ze 1.2Z (14) where Z is given in eq. (11). 7.2. Noncompact sections The proposed effective section modulus Ze for noncompact sections including Class 2 and 3 sections with section slenderness in the range of 60 ls 140 is Ze Z ly l s (Z Z) ly lp c (15)

M. Elchalakani et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 58 (2002) 14071430

1427

Fig. 10. Ze/Z versus d/t.

where Zc=1.2Z, which is the effective section modulus of a compact section (dened in eq. (14)), ls is dened in eq. (3), lp=60 and ly=140. 7.3. Slender sections For sections which satisfy ls 140, the effective section modulus shall be calculated as the lesser of the values determined in eqs. (16) and (17). Ze Ze Z Z ly ls 2ly ls
2

(16) (17)

where ly=140. Eq. (16) was found to give lesser values than those predicted using eq. (17) for ls 355. A recommended design curve makes use of eqs. (14)(16) is plotted and shown in Fig. 2 together with other design rules. It is seen that the recommended design curve initially lies lower, at smaller ls, but it lies higher for larger ls in comparison with the AS 4100 [11] design curve. It is also observed that the Eurocode 3 [13] design curve which has a sudden drop from Ze/Z=1.273 to Ze/Z=1.0 at ls=65.8 have reasonable predictions (particularly for ls 60) when compared with the test results for the machined CHS.

8. Conclusions The following conclusions are made based on the test results described in this paper:

1428

M. Elchalakani et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 58 (2002) 14071430

The plastic moment capacity Mpt of CHS can not be reached for machined or asreceived compact CHS due to the combined effect of low strain hardening of cold-formed CHS and ovalization. Therefore it was necessary to modify the existing criteria to dene new slenderness limits for cold-formed CHS. The plastic slenderness limit of lp=60 to dene a compact section which was obtained for cold-formed CHS in a related paper [33] is conrmed from the additional tests performed in this paper. This limit is slightly larger than lp=50 which was recommended by Sherman [34] for plastic design and is specied in AS 4100 [11]. A new section slenderness limit of lc2=88 was obtained to dene Class 2 coldformed CHS. This value was obtained based on a rotation capacity R2 1 at My. This value is slightly smaller than lc2=97 (ac2=8.2) interpreted from Sherman [35] tests. A new section yield slenderness limit ly=140 was obtained to dene slender coldformed CHS. This limit is considerably lower than ly=250 that obtained by Sherman [34] and currently specied in the AISC-LRFD [12]. The reason for this discrepancy is the limited amount of test results available in the slenderness range of ls=100 to 300. A new design curve, makes use of the newly obtained slenderness limits, consistent with AS 4100 [11] format is derived and recommended for design of coldformed CHS.

Acknowledgements The writers are grateful to the Australian Research Council and Monash University for their nancial assistance for the project. Thanks to Professor Don Sherman for providing the data on fabricated cylinders. Thanks are given to Palmer Tube Mills for providing the steel tubes. The experiments were carried out in the Civil Engineering Laboratory at Monash University and the technical assistance of Mr Graham Rundle and Mr Geoff Doddrell is gratefully acknowledged.

References
[1] Standards Association of Australia. Structural steel hollow sections. AS 1163, Sydney, Australia, 1991. [2] ASTM. Cold-formed welded and seamless carbon steel structural tubing in rounds and shapes. ASTM-A500, Philadelphia, Pa, 1984. [3] Galambos TV. Recent research and design developments in steel and composite steel-concrete structures in USA. Journal of Construction Seel Research 2000;55:289303. [4] Sheldon M, Sheldon R. Colonial stadium-a highly innovative multi purpose stadium. Australian AISC 1999;33(4):1527. [5] McDonald D. Stadium Australia, The Year 2000 Olympic Stadium. Australian AISC 1999;33(4):314. [6] Dean BK, Bennett JD. Roof top communication towers. In: Grundy P, Holgate A, Wong B, editors. Tubular Structures VI, Melbourne, Australia, December 1994;1416:41-44.

M. Elchalakani et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 58 (2002) 14071430

1429

[7] Hancock GJ. Light gauge construction. Progress in Structural Engineering and Materials 1997;1(1):2530. [8] Rondal J. Cold-formed steel members and structures general report. Journal of Construction Steel Research 2000;55:1558. [9] Hancock GJ, Zhao XL, Wilkinson T. Future directions in cold-formed tubular structures. The Paul Grundy Symposium, Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University. November 2001:1724. [10] Wilkinson T, Hancock GJ. Tests to examine compact web slenderness of cold-formed RHS. Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE 1998;124(10):116674. [11] Standards Association of Australia. SAA steel structures code. AS4100, Sydney, Australia, 1998. [12] AISC-LRFD. Load and resistance factor design specication for structural steel buildings. American Institute of Steel Construction Inc., Chicago, December 27, 1999. [13] Eurocode 3. Design of Steel Structures, Part 1.1, General rules and rules for buildings. ENV 1993 1-1, February 1992. [14] CAN-SCA S16.1. Steel structures for buildings. Limit States Design, Canadian Standards Associations, 1989. [15] British Standards Institution. BS 5950, Part 1, Structural use of steelwork in building, 1990. [16] Kemp AR. Factors affecting the rotation capacity of plastically designed members. The Structural Engineer 1986;64B(2):2835. [17] Kemp AR. Strength of pipes continuous over a series of saddle supports. Journal of Constructional Steel Research 1990;15:23348. [18] Kemp AR. Applications of research on ductility of structures. Canadian Journal for Civil Engineering 1992;19:8696. [19] Donnell LH. A new theory for the buckling of thin cylinder under axial compression and bending. ASME Transactions 1934;56:795806. [20] Otsuka H, Koga T. Buckling of circular cylindrical shell under beam-like bending, 1st report, experiment. Transactions of Japan Society for Aerospace Science 1997;41(133):3845. [21] Otsuka H, Koga T. Buckling of circular cylindrical shell under beam-like bending, 2nd report, buckling stress of cylindrical shells. Transactions of Japan Society for Aerospace Science 1997;41(133):14451. [22] Elchalakani M, Zhao XL, Grzebieta R. A closed-form solution for elastic buckling of thin-walled unstiffened circular cylinders under pure exure. 1st International Conference on Steel and Composite Structures, Pusan, Korea, Techno-Press 2001:267274. [23] Murray NW, Bilston P. Local buckling of thin-walled pipes being bent in the plastic range. ThinWalled structures 1992;14:41134. [24] Ju GT, Kyriakides S. Bifurcation and localisation instabilities in cylindrical shells under bending. International Journal of Solids and Structures, II-Predictions 1992;29:114371. [25] Korol RM, Huboda J. Plastic behaviour of hollow structural sections. J Structural Division ASCE 1972;98:100723. [26] Brazier LG. On the exural of thin cylindrical shells and other thin sections. Proc. Royal Society London (Series A) 1927;116:10414. [27] Mamalis AG, Manolacas DE, Baldoukas AK, Viefelahn GL. Deformation characteristics of crashworthy thin-walled steel tubes subjected to bending, part C. International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, Proceedings of Institute of Mechanical Engineers 1989;203:4117. [28] Kyriakides S, Shaw PK. Response and stability of elastic-plastic circular pipes under combined bending and external pressure. International Journal of Solids and Structures 1982;18:95773. [29] Kyriakides S, Shaw PK. Inelastic buckling of tubes under cyclic bending. Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology 1987;109:16978. [30] Shaw PK, Kyriakides S. Inelastic analysis of thin-walled tubes under cyclic bending. Journal of solids and structures 1985;21(11):1073100. [31] Wierzbicki T, Sinmao MV. A simplied model for brazier effect in plastic bending of cylindrical tubes. International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 1997;71:1928. [32] Rondal J, Wurker KG, Dutta D, Wardenier J, Yeomans N. Structural stability of hollow sections, CIDECT series on construction with hollow steel sections. Verlag, TUV, Rheinland, Germany, reprinted, 1996.

1430

M. Elchalakani et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 58 (2002) 14071430

[33] Elchalakani M, Zhao XL, Grzebieta R. Plastic slenderness limit for cold-formed circular hollow sections plastic. Australian Journal of Structural Engineering, Institutions of Engineers Australia 2001;3(3):116. [34] Sherman DR. Inelastic exural buckling of cylinders, steel structures. In: Pavlovic MN, editor. Recent Research Advance and Their Applications to Design, Proceedings of the invited papers for the International Conference. Budva, Yugoslavia, 29 September1 October, 1986:339357. [35] Sherman DR. Bending capacity of fabricated pipe at end connections. The University of Wisconsin Milwaukee research report, December 1987. [36] Schilling GS. Buckling strength of circular tubes. Journal of Structural Division, ASCE 1965;91:32548. [37] Standards Association of Australia. Methods for tensile testing of metals. AS 1391, Sydney, Australia, 1991. [38] Standards Association of Australia. Cold-formed steel structures. Australian/New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 4600, Sydney, Australia, 1996. [39] Cimpoeru SJ. The modelling of collapse during roll-over of bus frames consisting of square thinwalled tubes. PhD Thesis, Monash University, Australia, 1992. [40] Grzebieta RH. On the equilibrium approach for predicting the crush response of thin-walled mild steel structures. PhD Thesis, Monash University, Melbourne, 1990. [41] Kawata K, Miyamoto I, Minamitani, R. Plastic collapse in dynamic axial compression of thin-walled circular cylinder. Proceeding of the International Symposium on Intense Dynamic and its Effects, Beijing, China, 1986:15. [42] New Zealand Standard. Steel Structures Standard, NZS 3404, Part 1, Wellington, New Zealand, 1997.