Global stability of thin-walled ferritic stainless steel members

As more metallic alloys are introduced in engineering structures, the demand for the proper utilisation of their nonlinear stress–strain relationship is increasing. This paper discusses the inelastic buckling of members from such materials with a special focus on ferritic stainless steels. Here we introduce an alternative approach for the overall stability of members that considers material nonlinearity, namely the strain hardening parameter n. The suitability of the new model is verified by regression analysis in comparison with the commonly used standard calculations. The analysis results show that the present approach could be applied successfully in flexural, flexural–torsional and lateral–torsional buckling.

Graphical AbstractFigure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slideHighlights
► A parametrical study on member buckling of ferritic stainless steels was carried out.
► Numerical results showed strong sensitivity to nonlinear material parameter n.
► A new buckling strength calculation that includes gradual yielding was developed.
► The parameters of new strength curve were calibrated using nonlinear regression.
► The present approach yielded better accuracy than the standard methods.