Web crippling of cold-formed carbon steel, stainless steel, and aluminium channels: Investigation and design

Abstract

Cold-Formed (CF) structural members have recently drawn significant attention in light gauge steel construction. The employment of the different materials, for example CF carbon steel, stainless steel and aluminium, are becoming more common. These structural members are often subjected to concentrated loading conditions, which ultimately leads to failure through web crippling. A plethora of experimental and numerical studies have investigated the web crippling strength and behaviour of CF carbon steel lipped channel sections. However, only limited studies are available for CF stainless steel and aluminium members.

This paper presents the investigation of the web crippling strength of CF lipped channel beams under End Two Flange (ETF) loadings and aims to propose a unified equation considering strength factor. Finite Element (FE) models of CF carbon steel, aluminium, and stainless steel lipped channel beams were developed and validated against the available web crippling ETF load case experimental data. Subsequently, a detailed parametric study was performed based on the validated FE models, to establish a wide-ranging data set. New ETF load case web crippling unified design guidelines were proposed for the CF lipped sections made of carbon steel, stainless steel, and aluminium.