Numerical evaluation of flexural buckling of hot-finished and cold-formed EHS columns

Abstract

Elliptical hollow sections (EHS) have been recently introduced to the construction market. However, in the current Eurocode standard for steel structures EN 1993-1-1, there are no design criteria defined for EHS. The aim of this paper is to present a comparative numerical analysis of behaviour of cold-formed and hot-finished EHS columns exposed to flexural buckling under pure axial compression. Pin-ended columns of various slendernesses without lateral restrains and with incorporated geometrical imperfections are analysed. Material nonlinear behaviour is included through experimental tensile test results adopted from previous researches. According to obtained numerical results, similar buckling behaviour is observed for both hot-finished and cold-formed columns of higher slenderness, while in the lower slenderness region, cold-formed compressed members tend to lower buckling curves.