Experimental investigation on the effects of perforation on axially loaded cold-formed steel members

This paper is concerned with the effects of perforations on the deformation behaviour, and the ultimate strength of axially loaded cold-formed steel members. The paper describes an experimental investigation with a series of 20 non-perforated and perforated channel stub-columns. Web perforation having different shapes and different sizes have been considered. The test results indicate that the perforated stub-column specimens possess lower axial stiffness, buckling loads, and ultimate loads than the corresponding values for non-perforated specimens. The perforation width and height were main factors in reducing the stiffness, and the load capacity of the specimens. A large deformation elasto-plastic finite element computer model was developed for the analysis of cold-formed steel members. The finite element model based deformation behaviour, axial stress distribution, and strength results for non-perforated and perforated stub-column specimens were in good agreement with the test results.