Experiments on cold-formed steel columns with holes

The objective of this paper is to observe and quantify the relationship between elastic buckling and the tested response of cold-formed steel columns with holes. Compression tests were conducted on 24 short and intermediate length cold-formed steel columns with and without slotted web holes. For each specimen, a shell finite element eigenbuckling analysis was also conducted such that the influence of the boundary conditions and the hole on local, distortional, and global elastic buckling response could also be captured. Slotted web holes may modify the local and distortional elastic buckling half-wavelengths, and may also change the critical elastic buckling loads. Experimentally, slotted web holes are shown to have a minimal influence on the tested ultimate strength in the specimens considered, although post-peak ductility is decreased in some cases. Tangible connections are observed between elastic buckling and load–displacement response during the tests, including mode switching between local and distortional buckling. The columns are tested with friction-bearing boundary conditions where the columns ends are milled flat and parallel, and bear directly on steel platens. These boundary conditions, which greatly speed specimen preparation, are determined to be viable for evaluating the tested response of short and intermediate length columns, although the post-peak response of intermediate length specimens must be considered with care.