Local buckling of aluminium structures exposed to fire. Part 1: Tests

This paper describes an experimental investigation into local buckling of compressed aluminium alloy sections at elevated temperatures. Stress–strain relationships are derived based on uniaxial tensile tests. A special test set-up with a furnace is developed to test slender square hollow sections and angular sections in compression. The results of the compression tests are compared with simple design models. Methods are presented to determine geometrical imperfections and residual stresses. The test programme has resulted in a set of test data that can be used to validate numerical or analytical models.