Numerical modelling of high strength steel beams at elevated temperature

High strength steels are increasingly common in structural engineering applications owing to their favourable strength to weight ratio, excellent sustainability credentials and attractive physical and mechanical properties. However, these grades are under-used in structures owing to a lack of reliable information relating to their structural performance, particularly at elevated temperature. This paper presents a review of high strength steels in structural applications including the key design considerations. Particular focus is given to the lateral torsional buckling response of laterally unrestrained beams. A finite element model is developed to investigate this behaviour at ambient and elevated temperature. A series of beams between 500 and 4500 mm in length are studied in order to develop buckling curves which are comparable with current design provisions. At ambient temperature, it is shown that all of the buckling curves currently included in Eurocode 3 Part 1-1 give unsatisfactory and potentially unsafe predictions. In elevated temperature conditions, the buckling curves presented in Eurocode 3 Part 1–2 depict the behaviour reasonably well but, at relatively high slenderness values, the standard does not always provide a safe prediction. Revised bucking curves are proposed for high strength steel beams for laterally unrestrained beams made from high strength steel