The Continuous Strength Method for slender stainless steel cross-sections

• Strain based design technique, the CSM, has been extended for slender sections.
• A new parameter εe, ev tackles the post-buckling behaviour of slender sections.
• Extensive parametric study has been carried out using FE models.
• The suggested technique is developed using both experimental and numerical results
• Proposed extension of CSM produces accurate, consistent and reliable predictions.

This paper extends the scope of the Continuous Strength Method (CSM), which has recently been proposed for stocky sections, to include slender stainless steel sections. A new parameter called the Equivalent Elastic Deformation Capacity is introduced to tackle the significant post-buckling deformation observed in slender sections. A comprehensive finite element study was carried out to supplement limited number of available test results. Obtained FE results and available test evidences were used to propose design guidelines for compression and bending. The performance of the proposed technique was compared against EC3 guidelines, which showed good agreement with test and FE results with an acceptable level of reliability.