Tests and numerical study of ultra-high strength steel columns with end restraints

High strength steels with the nominal yield strength more than 460 MPa have begun to be applied in the construction of many steel structures, but there are short of sound researches on the major axis buckling behavior of such steel welded I-section columns, especially for the ultra-high strength steels having the nominal yield strength more than 690 MPa. In this paper, the experimental research is described on the overall buckling behavior about the major axis of ultra-high strength steel compression I-section columns with end restraints. In this research 8 columns made from 2 kinds of ultra-high strength structural steels S690 and S960, with nominal yield strengths of 690 MPa and 960 MPa, respectively, were tested. Based on the test results, the finite element analysis (FEA) model was validated to analyze this behavior of ultra-high strength steel columns, and the buckling strength of pin-ended columns fabricated from such steels were calculated by the verified FEA model, which were compared with the design buckling strengths according to the Eurocode 3, the American specification for structural steel buildings ANSI/AISC 360–05, and the Chinese codes for steel structures design GB50017-2003 respectively. It shows that the major axis nondimensional buckling strengths of the ultra-high strength steel compression columns, whose buckling curve is type b according to Eurocode 3 and GB50017-2003, are much higher than that calculated according to the column curve b, even higher than the curve a0 in Eurocode 3 and the curve a in GB50017-2003 on average, and they are also higher than the design values according to ANSI/AISC 360–05. It is therefore indicated that the buckling strength about the major axis of the ultra-high strength steel I-section columns is improved a lot compared with the ordinary strength steel columns on a non-dimensional basis, and the column curve a0 and curve a can be adopted to design this behavior in Eurocode 3 and GB50017-2003, respectively. Besides, there is no obvious difference between the major axis nondimensional buckling strengths of the pin-ended I-section columns fabricated from these two kinds of ultra-high strength steels: S690 and S960. These research works will provide the test basis to complete the buckling design method and theory of the ultra-high strength steel columns, and also be helpful for the application of ultra-high strength steel structures.

► We test 690 MPa and 960 MPa ultra-high strength steel columns.
► Finite element model is validated with test results of this research and others'.
► Buckling strength of ultra-high strength steel columns significantly improved.
► No obvious difference between buckling strengths of 690 MPa and 960 MPa columns.