Finite Element Analyses of Cold‐formed Stainless Steel Beams Subject to Shear

Stainless steel is a high‐performance construction material that combines the strength and stiffness associated with ferrous alloys with the corrosion resistance derived principally from the high chromium content. Its unique combination of properties usually comes at a cost, which puts increased emphasis on ensuring that the material is utilized to the upmost in structural applications. Consequently, in the recent years, an increase in the use of stainless steel in the construction industry has been witnessed, more specifically in exposed architectural applications and where total life economics, durability, improved resistance to aggressive environment, etc. are prime deciding criteria. However, the shear behaviour and capacity of cold‐formed stainless steel beams has not been investigated adequately in the past. Hence, detailed finite element analyses (FEA) were undertaken to investigate the shear behaviour and strength of stainless steel lipped channel beams (LCBs). The developed finite element models were first validated using the shear test results. They were then used in a detailed parametric study to investigate the effects of various influential parameters such as section thickness, depth and grade. Moreover, a parametric study was conducted to emphasize the beneficial effect of strain hardening of stainless steel on shear capacity of LCBs, in particularly for compact sections. FEA results showed that currently available design equations (EN1993‐1‐4) are inadequate to capture the available inelastic reserve capacity of compact stainless steel LCBs, thus suitable equations were proposed to enhance the predictions. This paper presents the details of finite element modelling and analyses of stainless steel LCBs and the development of these new shear design rules.