Abstract
M.Tech. (Civil Engineering)
The results of an investigation on the local buckling of cold-formed stainless
steel compression sections arc presented in this dissertation. The stainless
steel under consideration is AISI Type 304 Austenitic, manufactured by the
South African based speciality steel producing company Middelburg Steel &
Alloys. All sections were manufactured by press braking process.
The purpose of this investigation was to study the critical buckling stress and
buckling coefficient (k), of cold-formed, partially stiffened stainless steel
compression elements in order to determine the applicability of the current
design specification.
The mechanical properties of the stainless steel under consideration as well
as the results of 28 partially stiffened double hat sections are compared with
theoretical predictions.
It was concluded in this study that the experimental results of the critical
buckling stress compare well when using the plasticity reduction factor
Es/Eo in the theoretical predictions. However the theoretical buckling
coefficient (k) shows to be not representative to the experimental results
obtained in this investigation.