Testing of cold-formed ferritic stainless steel stub columns: axial behaviour and design strengths

The favourable properties of stainless steel sections like high strength, corrosion resistance, fire resistance, ease of maintenance, reuse and recyclability make it very suitable for sustainable structural/architectural applications over a wide range. The results obtained from an experimental study on cold-formed ferritic stainless steel stub column are detailed in this paper. The specimens were fabricated from ferritic stainless steel 409 M grade. Six specimens consisting of square hollow section and rectangular hollow section with pined ends were tested under concentric compression. The structural response was noted in terms of axial shortening trend under the loading history, failure modes, peak load and axial stiffness variations. Tensile coupons were also tested to obtain mechanical properties of the selected material. The test results obtained were compared against the strengths determined using the design rules given in Australian/New Zealand standard, European code for designing stainless steel members, and also with the strengths obtained using direct strength method. The comparisons of the results helped in bringing out clear conclusions.