Thin-Walled Structures 39 (2001) 961981 www.elsevier.

com/locate/tws

Design for openings in cold-formed steel channel stub columns

N.E. Shanmugam*, M. Dhanalakshmi
The National University of Singapore, Structural Steel Research Group (SSRG), 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 119260, Singapore Received 9 March 2001; revised 16 July 2001; accepted 30 July 2001

Abstract This paper is concerned with the ultimate load capacity of perforated cold-formed steel channel stub columns. A design equation has been developed to determine the ultimate load capacity of perforated channel short columns containing either single or multiple openings of square, circular and manufacturers opening shape. The equation is based on extensive parametric studies carried out using nite element modelling on plain and lipped channel sections containing openings. A wide range of parameters such as plate slenderness, opening shapes and sizes have been considered in the study. Web plate slenderness and opening area ratio are the two main variables used to derive the design equations. The accuracy of the proposed design equation is established by comparison with a number of experimental and nite element results reported by other researchers. 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.
Keywords: Cold-formed steel sections; Channel sections; Openings; Stub columns; Finite element modelling; Design equations

1. Introduction Openings are often introduced in thin-walled structural members to facilitate access for services and inspection [1]. Provisions of single and multiple openings in the web and/or ange plates of beams and columns greatly enhances the constructability of thin-walled sections by allowing easy consolidation of building ser-

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +65-874-2288; fax: +65-779-1635. E-mail address: cveshanm@nus.edu.sg (N. Shanmugam).
0263-8231/01/$ - see front matter 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. PII: S 0 2 6 3 - 8 2 3 1 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 4 5 - 3

962

N.E. Shanmugam, M. Dhanalakshmi / Thin-Walled Structures 39 (2001) 961981

vices, piping, electric wiring, plumbing, etc., within the section depth. Proper access for repair and maintenance work is provided through openings in webs of plate girders, box girders and ship grillages. In aircraft structures openings are provided for windows and for air passage to the interior. The presence of openings results in a signicant drop in the overall weight of the structure. In practice, cold-formed steel members used in racking structures, for example, are manufactured with a regular pattern of multiple holes. These openings result in a redistribution of membrane stresses because of the consequential changes in buckling and strength characteristics. Not only the type of applied stress (e.g., compressive, tensile, shear, etc.), but also the shape, size, location and number of openings have a great inuence on the behaviour of structural members containing openings. Thus, the analysis and design of structural steel members with perforated elements are complex. However, approximate design methods for evaluating the ultimate strength of cold-formed steel compression members are available. All of these methods require a thorough understanding of member behaviour and effective width concept. The authors have recently proposed a simple method for the design of angle stub columns containing openings [2]. A method that does not entail knowledge of the effective width concept is extended, in this paper, for channel stub columns containing openings. The proposed method does not require any rigorous mathematical computation and, a single formula, covers different shapes and sizes of openings.

2. Scope of the study Design methods currently available are based on the effective width concept, and equations modied to account for openings have been proposed by a number of researchers. A brief review of the effective width equations are presented in this paper. A three-dimensional nite element model for channel sections such as those shown in Fig. 1 is developed using the nite element package ABAQUS and the

Fig. 1.

Details of lipped channel section considered in the analyses.

N.E. Shanmugam, M. Dhanalakshmi / Thin-Walled Structures 39 (2001) 961981

963

model is veried using numerical and experimental results available in published literature. The major problem with the design of thin-walled steel structural members is the local instability of plate elements in compression. The precise analysis of enumerating the weakening effect of local instability on the strength of cold-formed steel section is highly complex because of its dependence on the shape of the crosssection, material and geometric non-linearity, effects of cold forming, effects of perforations, etc. A parametric study has been carried out in the present study, covering parameters such as plate slenderness and shape, size, number and position of perforations in channel section. A design equation for predicting the ultimate strength is obtained by regression analysis. The accuracy of the proposed formula is then established by comparison with the corresponding experimental and nite element values. 3. Present design equations All design methods currently used in the design of thin-walled compression members involve the effective width principle. A brief review of the effective width equations is presented in the following sections. Von Karman et al. [3] proposed an effective width formula for a plate subjected to uniform compression as: beff 1.9t E , Fy (1)

in which t is the plate thickness, E the modulus of elasticity, Fy the yield strength of the material and beff is actually the width of the ideal plate, which resists the load. Extensive experimental studies carried out by Winter [4] on light-gauge cold-formed steel sections led to a generalized empirical formula to predict the effective width beff of stiffened and unstiffened plates under uniform compression at any stress level below yielding on light-gauge cold-formed steel sections as: beff 0.95t t kE 1 0.208 Fmax w kE , Fmax (2)

where k is the plate buckling coefcient, and w/t is the plate slenderness. This equation proved to represent the post-local buckling strength with initial imperfection quite well, and it is therefore used currently in various cold-formed steel design standards (CSA 1994; AISI 1996). Rhodes and Walker [5] have traced the historical background and application of the effective width concept for plates under various boundary conditions at loads near buckling. The effective width curves based on Winters expression have given good results for a conservatively rated range of plate width to thickness ratios. For the region of low strains in which these curves have least satisfactory shape, an improvement has been suggested and an expression in the form beff b 1 C smax sCR
m n

(3)

964

N.E. Shanmugam, M. Dhanalakshmi / Thin-Walled Structures 39 (2001) 961981

has been proposed. It is applicable at all stages of load or to all plate width to thickness ratios. In this expression, C, m and n are coefcients. Suitable values of these coefcients are suggested for stiffened and unstiffened plates and the results are compared with existing design formulae. The following effective width equation [6] accounts for geometrical imperfection and residual stresses: beff b where b b t 12(1 n2) e p 2K C1 b2 C2 b C3 C4b, for b 0.526, (4)

and C1, C2, C3 and C4 are coefcients that depend upon the non-dimensional plate slenderness ratio and strength reduction factor caused by residual stresses. The above equations, however, are not useful in the presence of perforations. Yu and Davis [7] therefore studied cold-formed steel compression members with perforated plate elements. Local and post-buckling strengths were investigated for both stiffened and unstiffened doubly symmetric perforated sections. These experimental studies led to the development of several approaches to evaluate the effective design width of perforated plate elements. Yu and Davies proposed an effective design width equation as beff 0.95t a kE t 1 A 1 0.208 Fmax w w a a kE 1 B Fmax w (5)

for plates with either circular or square perforation. In this equation, a/w is the perforation diameter (or width) to plate width ratio, A and B are constants for both circular and square perforations, determined based on the corresponding experimental test results. Eq. (5) was limited to a/w 0.5 for square perforations. Since this equation involves many constants, it was thought to be too complicated for designers, and hence is rarely used now. The design procedure given in the American (AISI) Specications [8] for stiffened plates with circular perforations is based on the results from the experimental study by Ortiz-Colberg [9]. Accordingly, the effective width equation is given as beff beff (w a) for (w/t) (w/t)lim 0.95t t kE 1 0.208 Fmax w 0.644 kE Fmax (6)

a kE 0.8 for (w/t) (w/t)lim. Fmax w

(7)

Eq. (7) is only applicable for stiffened plates under uniform compression, with slenderness ratio w/t 70, and having a circular perforation with a/w 0.5. A more general, but relatively conservative design approach for perforated wall stud assemblies

N.E. Shanmugam, M. Dhanalakshmi / Thin-Walled Structures 39 (2001) 961981

965

is given in the Canadian standard S136-94 (CSA 1994) [10]. It is stated that the effective design width (beff) of perforated webs of wall studs can be calculated assuming the web to consist of two unstiffened plate elements, one on each side of the perforation. Essentially, this approach assumes that the perforation extends over the full length of the compression member. Either stiffened or unstiffened elements are fully effective up to a limiting value of at width Wlim given by: Wlim/t 0.644 kE . Fmax (8)

For compressive elements with W larger than Wlim, the at width should be replaced by an effective width beff given by: beff 0.95t t kE 1 0.208 Fmax w kE , Fmax (9)

where k = 4.0 for stiffened compressive elements and 0.5 for unstiffened elements. This design approach also has some limitations, including a requirement that the perforation width should not exceed half the depth of the section or 65 mm, and the perforation length should not exceed 115 mm. The above approach has been specied for wall stud assemblies only, and is not applicable for single members in compression. Narayanan and Chow [11] suggested an approximate relationship for the elastic post-buckling stress distribution sxh at the loaded edges of the perforated plate by replacing su and sh , which is the elastic critical stress of the perforated plate cr cr obtained by the nite element method: sxh sh cr d d0 d E(d2 d2) 0 p2 3 16a2 a4 b4 4 sin2 py . b (10)

A simplied form of Von Mises yield criterion was used in the analysis. Ritchie and Rhodes [12] have also demonstrated how the presence of openings affected a buckled plate. They assumed that the compressive stresses released by the introduction of a hole in an unperforated plate are redistributed over the remaining width of the plate. The effective design width, beff, for perforated plates with any shape of openings can be determined as per Miller and Pekoz [13] by: beff beff bun, for (w bun) a (11) (12)

(w a), for (w bun) a

where a is the perforation width, and bun is the effective design width depending on the size of the perforation relative to the ineffective portion of the plate element. The design formula proposed by Shanmugam et al. [14] is simple and requires the designer only to compute different sets of coefcients C1, C2 and C3. The formula is expressed as:

966

N.E. Shanmugam, M. Dhanalakshmi / Thin-Walled Structures 39 (2001) 961981

Pult Psq

C1

Ah Ap

C2

Ah Ap

1/2

C3,

(13)

in which Ah is the area of the opening (circular or square), Ap is the surface of the square plate. Abdel-Rahman and Sivakumaran [15] proposed effective design width equations for determination of the ultimate strength of perforated cold-formed steel members in compression. A proven nite element model [16] has been used in a parametric study, resulting in effective design width equations for non-perforated and perforated cold-formed steel members in compression. The effective design width b of a stiffened plate of width w subjected to uniform compression and having a perforation width a can be calculated as: beff 0.95t t kE kE 1 0.208 Fmax w Fmax
1/2

0.58

a w

(w a).

(14)

This effective design width should not exceed the value of (w a). The last term (i.e., 0.58 a/w) represents the effects of the perforation on the effective design width beff of the plate. The effective design width beff for a stiffened plate of width w subjected to uniform compression and having a perforation of width a and height h can be calculated as: beff 0.95t kE Fmax
1/2

1 0.208

t kE w Fmax

1/2

0.58

a h a . 0.0015 w t

(15)

The effective width shall not exceed the value of (w a). The last term between the brackets [i.e., 0.0015(h a)/t] represents the effect of elongated perforations. This term vanishes from the equation for a square or circular perforation (h = a).

4. Method of analysis A stub column test may be used to give the base value for maximum compression load on a section taking into account of work hardening at the corners. In choosing the specimen lengths, reference was made to BS 5950:Part 5:1987:Section 10 Testing: Stub column test procedure [17]. The length of the stubcolumn is chosen in such a way as to eliminate the overall buckling mode of the column as well as to retain the residual stresses. The specimen should have a length equal to three times the widest plate element. If this results in an overall length greater than 20 times the least radius of gyration, supports should be provided so that the specimen is divided into two lengths each equal to or less than 20 times the least radius of gyration. In other words, the length should be greater than or equal to three times the widest plate element to ensure proper representation of local buckling and postbuckling behaviour of the section, and should be less than 20 times the least radius of gyration to contain the same initial stress pattern as a much longer member cut from the same stock. However, a stub column of 20 times the least radius of gyration

N.E. Shanmugam, M. Dhanalakshmi / Thin-Walled Structures 39 (2001) 961981

967

is scanty to accommodate the perforations and also to represent buckling at the mid height. Thus, a stub column length equal to three times the web width of the crosssection was used in the present study. Uniform axial compression was applied to the at ends of the specimen through the end plates. Simply supported boundary conditions were imposed on the top and bottom edges of the stub columns. In this case, the loaded edge was assumed to have free displacement along the loading direction and free out-of-plane rotations. The displacements normal to the direction of loading were restrained.

5. Finite element modelling Since the channel sections consist of corner region, the elements should be so chosen that they represent the corner region well. The isoparametric element formulation makes it possible to have non-rectangular elements, element with curved sides, innite elements for bounded media and singularity elements for fracture mechanics. Triangular elements are less accurate than equivalent quadrilateral elements and should not be used in areas where high stress gradients are expected unless a very ne grid is used with due consideration. Hence, in the present study, a surface model consisting of an eight-noded doubly curved thin shell, reduced integration, using ve degrees of freedom per node was used to avoid any ill-conditioning in the analysis. A convergence study was carried out to establish a suitable mesh size for the analyses of the plate. Since the parameters involved in the analysis are larger, the convergence study is based not on the total number of elements but on the number of elements on each plate. An element aspect ratio of 1 to 4 was chosen to represent the model in the present study. The width of the lip plate element and each curved corner were modelled using two shell elements. The ange plate element was divided into four shell elements and the web plate element into eight plate elements in order to observe the large deformation in the post-buckling range. Since the model has perforations in both web and ange elements, at locations adjacent to the perforation the number of shell elements was increased to follow the stress concentration around the openings. After mesh generation, all meshing data were converted into standard ABAQUS (version 5.8) input for analysis. Data lines should then be included in order to account for all the material and geometric non-linearity, residual stresses, the incrementaliterative load steps and required output commands in accordance with ABAQUS/Standard program language. A typical nite element mesh is shown in Fig. 2. 5.1. Residual stresses and initial imperfections The rules-of-thumb proposed by Schafer and Pekoz [18] in computational modelling of cold-formed steel were used in this study. Only the exural residual stresses were incorporated into the model. The exural residual stresses were assumed to be linearly distributed through the plate thickness, with compressive residual stress on the inside surface and tensile residual stress on the outside surface of the channel

968

N.E. Shanmugam, M. Dhanalakshmi / Thin-Walled Structures 39 (2001) 961981

Fig. 2.

Typical nite element mesh.

Table 1 Detail of the experimental specimens [19] Specimen series I II L (mm) 200 265 ww (mm) wf (mm) wl (mm) T (mm) 82.5 144.7 31.7 33.6 7.9 8.8 1.60 1.29 E (MPa) Fy (MPa) Fu (MPa) 205,000 210,000 340.6 262.2 443.6 336.0

section. Geometric non-linearity was also incorporated in the model using a Fortran program. This program creates a perturbed mesh by superimposing a small imperfection in the form of the weighted sum of several buckling modes on the initial geometry. 5.2. Accuracy of the nite element modelling It is important to establish the accuracy of the nite element model before it is used for carrying out further studies. Therefore, some selected experimental results from the published literature were considered for this purpose [16,19]. Details of test specimens are given in Tables 1 and 2 and the notation is illustrated in Fig. 1.
Table 2 Experimental specimen details [16] Specimen A B ww (mm) wf (mm) wl (mm) t (mm) 191.7 93.9 30.3 34.0 7.4 9.4 1.88 1.27 ww/t 102.0 73.9 wf/t 16.1 26.8 wl/t 3.9 7.4 Fy (MPa) 345 228

N.E. Shanmugam, M. Dhanalakshmi / Thin-Walled Structures 39 (2001) 961981

969

Table 3 Comparison of Pult of experimental [19] and ABAQUS results Specimen details r (mm) d (mm) h (mm) ABAQUS, Pabaq (kN) 90.80 85.60 80.60 73.90 87.50 80.00 74.60 70.10 56.60 56.00 52.80 48.20 56.00 51.90 48.60 52.70 Experimental, Pabaq/Pexp Pexp (kN) 85.30 85.80 81.70 78.10 84.70 81.60 77.60 72.60 54.00 54.20 53.40 47.60 53.20 51.00 47.00 51.60 1.064 0.998 0.987 0.946 1.033 0.980 0.961 0.966 1.048 1.034 0.990 1.013 1.052 1.018 1.034 1.021

Series I

D-0-2 A-2-2 A-4-1 A-6-2 B-2-3 B-4-3 B-6-3 C-1-31

8.25 16.50 24.75 19.00

16.50 33.00 49.50 16.50 33.00 49.50 38.00

16.50 33.00 49.50 64.00

Series II D-0-2 A-2-2 A-4-1 A-6-2 B-2-3 B-4-3 B-6-3 C-1-31

14.50 29.00 43.50 19.00

29.00 58.00 87.00 29.00 58.00 87.00 38.00

29.00 58.00 87.00 64.00

These specimens were analysed using the proposed nite element model. The analyses produce detailed results but only the ultimate loads are taken for comparison. The analytical values of ultimate loads for each of the test specimens are presented along with the corresponding experimental values and comparison between the two values in Tables 3 and 4. d and h in the tables refer to the size of openings. In most cases the nite element values are very close to the corresponding experimental values, the percentage error being within an acceptable range ( 6 to +7%). It is, therefore, concluded that the nite element model using ABAQUS to predict the
Table 4 Comparison of Pult of experimental [16] and ABAQUS results Specimens L (mm) a (mm) h (mm) r (mm) ABAQUS, Pabaq (kN) 129.10 121.70 121.50 117.60 115.40 67.60 58.30 57.90 54.70 53.40 Experimental, Pabaq/Pexp Pexp (kN) 128.55 117.90 119.05 118.15 114.55 65.25 56.70 56.40 56.10 56.90 1.004 1.032 1.021 0.995 1.007 1.036 1.028 1.027 0.975 0.938

A-D A-C A-S A-O A-R B-D B-C B-S B-O B-R

365 425 425 475 475 215 250 250 300 300

63.50 63.50 63.50 63.50 38.10 38.10 38.10 38.10 38.10

63.50 63.50 114.30 114.30 38.10 38.10 101.60 101.60 101.60

31.80 31.80 19.10 19.10

970

N.E. Shanmugam, M. Dhanalakshmi / Thin-Walled Structures 39 (2001) 961981

ultimate loads of perforated stub columns is reliable. Hence, it can be used to carry out a parametric study in order to generate design curves and hence design formulae using curve-tting techniques.

6. Parametric study Formulation of a design equation requires consideration of suitable parameters to keep the equation reliable as well as simple. Previous studies on formulation of design formulae reveal that development of equations takes a considerable amount of time and extensive studies to incorporate all of the parameters involved. Owing to the complexity of the problems, equations are formulated based on a single or a few of the parameters in many cases. Since simplicity and accuracy are often conicting requirements in the formulation of design equation, we must ensure that a reasonable degree of accuracy is maintained without unnecessarily complicating the calculation procedures. This objective can be achieved if the design equations include only the most important physical variables. Equations for perforated cold-formed short columns involve slenderness ratio, opening width to web width ratio and material properties to calculate the effective width. These equations are applicable for members with perforations only in the web portion. After calculating the effective width for each part of the member, web, ange, lip and corner, it is necessary to calculate the ultimate load. This study is directed towards developing a simple design formula that can be applied to cold-formed steel short columns with all kinds of openings. 6.1. Parameters considered Cold-formed steel members possess considerable post-buckling strength although they are susceptible to local buckling at relatively low loads. The buckling strength of cold-formed steel members subjected to axial compression depends mainly on the at width to thickness ratio of the individual plate elements that form the section. In calculating the ultimate load of perforated plate, the opening ratio is a critical parameter. From the analysis, it was found that the ratio of opening area to plate area would be able to cover different shapes of hole in predicting the ultimate load. Hence, in this study, two parameters, b/t and Ao/As, were considered in formulating the design equations to predict the ultimate load of perforated short columns. The three non-dimensional parameters are: Plate slenderness ratio = b/t (plate width ratio) Opening size ratio = Ao/As (opening size) Ultimate over squash load ratio = Pult/Psq where Ao is the total surface area of openings, As is the total surface area of the member, Pult is the ultimate load and Psq is the squash load. Five different lipped channel sections were considered in the parametric study

N.E. Shanmugam, M. Dhanalakshmi / Thin-Walled Structures 39 (2001) 961981

971

using the nite element method. The study covers slenderness ratio of the web plate w/t varying from 29.3 to 133.7 and d/b ratio, in which d refers to the size of openings and b the web width, was varied from 0.0 to 0.6. The sections are selected as per the RMI/AISI codes for rack column sections. The overall and at width dimensions of the channel sections considered in this study are given in Table 5. The channel sections listed in the table are designated with notations such as LC30-20, in which the rst eld, LC, indicates lipped channel, while the second eld, 30, refers to the plate slenderness ratio of the web. The specied yield strength Fy = 386 MPa was considered for the at and corner zones. The inner corner radius to thickness ratio of all the channel sections was taken to be two. Each lipped channel section involves four cases for study, one for a non-perforated section and three for perforated sections. This group consists of members having three repeated sets of four perforations around the cross-section, both in the ange and web, as shown in Fig. 1. The crosssectional width of each perforation is varied from 0.2 to 0.6 of half the web width (ww/2 of the web) and the perforation length is twice the corresponding width. These perforation dimensions cover the practical limits for perforated cold-formed steel wall studs. Extensive nite element analyses were carried out on perforated members by varying a particular parameter while keeping the others constant. Each of the parameters was thus varied, the non-linear analysis was extended beyond the ultimate load performed in each case and the ultimate load capacity determined. These analyses were carried out for stub column boundary conditions referred to earlier and subjected to uniform axial compression. Table 5 gives the ultimate axial load for all 20 cases of studies. 7. Formulation of design equation The ultimate loads thus obtained were plotted on the vertical axis as the ratio of the load to the squash load of the section against the square root of Ao/As ratio on the horizontal axis. Curves were plotted for different values of b/t ratio. A design formula, as a function of b/t and Ao/As, was then formulated using polynomial curve tting. In the proposed method, designers need to compute only different sets of coefcients and substitute them into the general equation to predict the ultimate capacity of the perforated short columns. The simplied design formula for predicting the ultimate load of perforated stub channel columns is thus given as: Pult Psq where k1 k2 and k3 0.1100m2 0.5681m 1.1412, 1.1850m3 3.8487m2 0.1111m
2

k1

Ao As

k2

Ao As

1/2

k3,

3.7321m 1.2336,

0.0932m 0.7763

972

Table 5 Section details and FEM ultimate loads of lipped channel sections with multiple openings Flat width, wwwfwl (mmmmmm) t (mm) ww/t ao (mm) do (mm) Pabaq (kN) 52.740.010.5 1.8 29.3

Specimen ID

Overall width, WWfWl (mmmmm)

63.550.815.9

101.650.815.9

90.840.010.5

1.8

50.4

101.650.815.9

94.443.612.3

1.2

78.7

139.750.815.9

132.543.612.3

1.2

110.4

N.E. Shanmugam, M. Dhanalakshmi / Thin-Walled Structures 39 (2001) 961981

LC30-0 LC30-20 LC30-40 LC30-60 LC50-0 LC50-20 LC50-40 LC50-60 LC80-0 LC80-20 LC80-40 LC80-60 LC110-0 LC110-20 LC110-40 LC110-60 LC133-0 LC133-20 LC133-40 LC133-60 133.744.812.9 1.0 133.7

139.750.815.9

5.3 10.5 15.8 9.1 18.2 27.2 9.4 18.9 28.3 13.3 26.5 39.8 13.4 26.7 40.1

10.5 21.1 31.6 18.2 36.3 54.5 18.9 37.8 56.6 26.5 53.0 79.5 26.7 53.5 80.2

125.2 112.6 96.1 79.7 133.1 116.3 96.4 76.5 79.2 67.7 55.2 42.7 80.4 68.2 52.4 36.6 58.3 49.1 36.8 23.5

N.E. Shanmugam, M. Dhanalakshmi / Thin-Walled Structures 39 (2001) 961981

973

in which As is total surface area of openings, Ao is total surface area of the member, Pult is ultimate load, Psq is squash load and m = (b/t)/100. 8. Accuracy of the design formula A design equation must be capable of strength predictions such that they are always within a narrow scatter band independent of the variables not represented in the equation. The prediction of the exact strength of individual components can only be achieved by rigorous methods of analysis, either by experimental or numerical means, in which all characteristics of the component and of the loading are represented and properly accounted for. The errors that exist in results from experimental uncertainties or from numerical inaccuracies can be reduced by proper procedures. This is different from the errors of design methods, which do not account explicitly for some variables, in which case it cannot be eliminated. The objective in the formulation of a design requirement should be to minimize its bias and uncertainty in the design parameters considered. The assessment of the bias and uncertainty is made from comparison of its predictions with more accurate results from either experiments or from detailed numerical calculations, or even by more exact design methods which account for more variables than the one being assessed. It is important that the assessment of a design equation is made over the range of parameters that is representative of the type of structural components to be designed. The proposed equation has been applied to a large number of numerical and experimental models of plain and lipped channels tested by other researchers. These models cover a wide range of openings, single or multiple, of different shapes, sizes and arrangements as shown in Table 6. Typical lipped channel sections, which fall within the practical limits of application, have been chosen to establish the accuracy of the proposed design equations. Perforations, single or multiple, were assumed in the sections. The design equation was applied to determine the ultimate loads (Ppred) of these channel sections. Also, the ultimate load-carrying capacity was determined using ABAQUS (Pabaq). These loads, expressed as ratios Ppred/Psq and Pabaq/Psq in which Psq is obtained as the product of gross cross-sectional area and the yield strength, are plotted in Figs. 3 and 4 for multiple and single openings, respectively. All points in the two gures can be seen to fall very close to the line of equality, thus conrming the fact that the loads predicted by using the design equation are almost equal to the corresponding values obtained from the nite element analyses. It can, therefore, be conrmed that the proposed design equation is capable of predicting the load-carrying capacity accurately. The accuracy of the design equation is established further by comparing the predicted ultimate loads for lipped and plain channels tested by other researchers. The proposed equation was applied to determine the ultimate loads of channel stub columns tested by Loov [20], Rhodes and Schneider [21], Rhodes and Macdonald [22], Sivakumaran [19], Sivakumaran and Abdel-Rahman [16] and Abdel-Rahman and Sivakumaran [15]. The predicted ultimate loads, Ppred, and the corresponding experi-

974

N.E. Shanmugam, M. Dhanalakshmi / Thin-Walled Structures 39 (2001) 961981

Table 6 Statistical comparison of experimental and predicted ultimate loads Reference Section Opening Mean Standard Deviation

Shape Loov - 84 [20]

No 3

Position Web 1.00 0.073

Rhodes and Schneider [21]

Flange

0.95

0.129

Rhodes and Schneider [21]

Corner

1.04

0.215

Rhodes and Schneider [21]

Web

0.94

0.130

Rhodes and Schneider [21]

12

Web & Flange

1.01

0.110

Rhodes and MacDonald [22]

12

Web & Flange

0.93

0.074

Rhodes and MacDonald [22]

Corner

1.24

0.319

Sivakumaran [19] (Series I and II)

Flange

0.92

0.092

Sivakumaran and Rahman [16]

Flange

0.89

0.046

Rahman and Sivakumaran [15]

Flange

0.98

0.078

N.E. Shanmugam, M. Dhanalakshmi / Thin-Walled Structures 39 (2001) 961981

975

Fig. 3.

Comparison of design equation with nite element results for multiple openings.

Fig. 4.

Comparison of design equation with nite element results for single opening.

mental loads, Pexp, are presented in graphical form for comparison in Figs. 510. The ratio of ultimate load obtained by the design formula to squash load and the ratio of experimental ultimate load to squash load are plotted in these gures. It is clear from the gures that most of the results for ultimate loads obtained by using the design formula lie very close to the corresponding experimental values. It can therefore be established that the proposed equation is capable of predicting the ultimate load accurately in all cases for single or multiple openings.

976

N.E. Shanmugam, M. Dhanalakshmi / Thin-Walled Structures 39 (2001) 961981

Fig. 5.

Comparison of design equation with test results (Loov [20]).

Fig. 6.

Comparison of design equation with test results (Rhodes and Schneider [21]).

N.E. Shanmugam, M. Dhanalakshmi / Thin-Walled Structures 39 (2001) 961981

977

Fig. 7. Comparison of design equation with test results (Rhodes and Macdonald [22]).

Fig. 8.

Comparison of design equation with test results (Sivakumaran [19]).

978

N.E. Shanmugam, M. Dhanalakshmi / Thin-Walled Structures 39 (2001) 961981

Fig. 9. Comparison of design equation with test results (Abdel-Rahman and Sivakumaran [15]).

Fig. 10.

Comparison of design equation with test results (Sivakumaran and Abdel-Rahman [16]).

N.E. Shanmugam, M. Dhanalakshmi / Thin-Walled Structures 39 (2001) 961981

979

The statistical comparison of the ratios (Ppred/Pexp) for each study and for all tests is given in Table 6. Shapes, number and location of the openings, mean values of the ratio Ppred/Pexp and standard deviation for all test results reported are summarized in the table. It can be observed from the table that the proposed equation, which covers different types of opening size, shape and position, gives good predictions of the ultimate loads of perforated members and results that compare well with the experimental values.

9. Inuence of opening size The inuence of opening size, a/w, on the ultimate capacity of perforated channel columns can be studied from Fig. 11. Results obtained from the ABAQUS analysis are plotted for channel sections containing multiple openings of different sizes. Variation of ultimate load capacity with web plate slenderness of the section is plotted for each of the opening sizes. It can be seen from the gure that the ultimate loadcarrying capacity of stub columns with multiple openings decreases with increasing hole size. This drop in strength with increasing opening size is the result of both a loss in web plate stiffness due to the presence of openings and local buckling. The presence of holes on the ange section also affects the ultimate capacity. The reductions in ultimate capacity for a 20% opening size range from 11% to 18% and for a 40% opening size from 30% to 58% for slenderness ratios 29.3 to 133.7, respectively.

Fig. 11.

Inuence of opening size on ultimate capacity of perforated channel section.

980

N.E. Shanmugam, M. Dhanalakshmi / Thin-Walled Structures 39 (2001) 961981

The corresponding reductions for an opening size of 60% are 57% to 140% for slenderness ratios 29.3 to 133.7. 10. Conclusions A design formula to predict the ultimate load capacity of cold-formed channel stub columns containing single or multiple openings has been developed. This was achieved by using the nite element package, ABAQUS, to generate data based on parametric studies. Finite element analyses of channel sections with different web plate slenderness ratio, opening types, opening sizes incorporating initial imperfections and residual stresses were carried out. A best-t regression technique was employed in developing the design formulae to predict the ultimate load of perforated columns. Besides the material factor (which affects the squash load), the two main parameters considered in the formulation of design equations were the slenderness ratio and opening area ratio. A quadratic equation of three non-dimensional parameters, in which the ultimate load over squash load is determined as a function of b/t and d/b, is proposed for channel stub columns. The suggested design formula is benecial since it does not require any rigorous analysis by designers, especially at the initial stages of design. The proposed design formula for stub columns can be used in conjunction with the PerryRobertson formula to determine the load-carrying capacity of long columns of channel cross-section containing openings. References
[1] Shanmugam NE. Openings in thin-walled structures. Thin-Walled Struct. 1997;28(3-4):35572. [2] Dhanalakshmi M, Shanmugam NE. Design for openings in equal-angle cold-formed steel stub columns. Thin-Walled Struct. 2001;39(2):16787. [3] Von Karman T, Sechler E, Donnell LH. The strength of thin plates in compression. Trans. Am. Soc. Mech. Engrs. 1932;54(2):537. [4] Winter G. Strength of thin steel compression anges. Trans. Am. Soc. Civ. Engrs. 1947;112:52754. [5] Rhodes J, Walker AC. Developments in thin-walled structures 1. London: Elsevier Applied Science Publishers, 1982. [6] Liew RJY, Shanmugam NE, Lee SL. Local buckling of thin-walled box columns. Thin-Walled Struct. 1989;8(2):11945. [7] Yu WW, Davies CS. Cold-formed steel members with perforated elements. ASCE J. Struct. Eng. Div. 1973;99(ST10):206177. [8] American Iron and Steel Institute. Specication for the design of cold-formed steel structural members, 1986 ed. with 1989 Addendum. [9] Ortiz-Colberg R. The load carrying capacity of perforated cold-formed steel columns. In: M.Sc. thesis. Ithaca (NY): Cornell University, 1981. [10] Canadian Standards Association. Cold-formed steel structural members, S136-94 (CSA 1994). [11] Narayanan R, Chow FY. Ultimate capacity of uniaxially compressed perforated plates. Thin-Walled Struct. 1984;2:24164. [12] Ritchie D, Rhodes J. Buckling and post-buckling behaviour of plates with holes. Aeronaut Quart 1975;28196. [13] Miller TH, Pekoz T. Unstiffened strip approach for perforated wall studs. ASCE J. Struct. Eng. 1994;120(2):41021.

N.E. Shanmugam, M. Dhanalakshmi / Thin-Walled Structures 39 (2001) 961981

981

[14] Shanmugam NE, Thevendran V, Tan YH. Design formula for axially compressed perforated plates. Thin-Walled Struct. 1999;34:120. [15] Abdel-Rahman N, Sivakumaran KS. Effective design width for perforated cold-formed steel compression members. Can. J. Civ. Eng. 1998;25:31930. [16] Sivakumaran KS, Abdel-Rahman N. A nite element analysis model for the behaviour of coldformed steel members. Thin-Walled Struct. 1998;31:30524. [17] British Standards Institution. BS 5950:Part 5:1987:Section 10 Testing: stub column test procedure. [18] Schafer BW, Pekoz T. Computational modeling of cold-formed steel: characterizing geometric imperfections and residual stresses. J. Construct. Steel Res. 1998;47:193210. [19] Sivakumaran KS. Load capacity of uniformly compressed cold-formed steel section with punched web. Can. J. Civ. Eng. 1987;14:5508. [20] Loov R. Local buckling capacity of C-shaped cold-formed steel sections with punched webs. Can. J. Civ. Eng. 1984;11:17. [21] Rhodes J, Schneider FD. The compressional behaviour of perforated elements. In: Proceedings of the 12th International Specialty Conference on Cold-Formed Steel Structures, St. Louis, MO, 1994: University of Missouri-Rolla, USA: pp. 1128. [22] Rhodes J, Macdonald M. The effects of perforation length on the behaviour of perforated elements in compression. In: Proceedings of the 13th International Specialty Conference on Cold-Formed Steel Structures, St. Louis, MO, 1996: University of Missouri-Rolla, USA: pp. 91101.