Influence of Intermediate Stiffeners on Axial Capacity of Thin-Walled Built-Up Open and Closed Channel Section Columns

This paper investigates the post-buckling behaviour and axial capacity of thin-walled steel stiffened single-channel sections (ISSCS) and back-to-back stiffened channel sections (BISCS). BISCS were connected using fasteners at a spacing of 200 mm and with an edge distance of 100 mm. Under axial compression, 10 new ISSCS and BISCS columns with fixed-ended conditions were tested. In the experimental tests, the back-to-back channel sections failed due to a combination of local and global buckling, whereas the single-channel sections generally failed as a result of local buckling. The behaviour of both ISSCS and BISCS shows a 20% increase on an average in axial capacity through adding stiffeners at the junction of the flange and the web, in addition to stiffeners in the web. A nonlinear finite element model (FEM) with material and geometric nonlinearities was then developed. The FE model was validated against the experimental results. A comprehensive parametric study comprising 64 face-to-face intermediate stiffened channel sections (FISCS) was then conducted to study the influence of stiffener length on its axial capacity. The axial capacity obtained from the tests and FEA shows that design in accordance with the Direct Strength Method (DSM) is accurate and conservative by only 4% on average