Experimental investigation of the overall buckling behaviour of 960 MPa high strength steel columns

•Six 960 MPa steel welded section columns are investigated experimentally.•A FE model is valid and employed to undertake numerous parametric analyses.•The dimensionless buckling strength of such columns is improved significantly.•Column curves are selected to design such columns based on current standards.•New column curve is proposed through a fitting of results of the parametric analysis.

Investigations of the mechanical performance of high strength steel structures have become a research hotspot in civil and structural engineering, and existing experimental studies of their overall buckling behaviour have hitherto focused mainly on columns fabricated from either 460 MPa or 690 MPa steels. The present study describes an experimental programme including six pin-ended 960 MPa steel columns under axial compression. Both welded I- and box-section specimens are considered. The initial geometric imperfections and cross-sectional residual stresses are reported, with the axial loading, deformation and the strain distributions at the mid-length section being monitored during the testing. The buckling mode is clarified, and the buckling capacity is compared with design results according to current national design codes. Based on the experimental results, a finite element model is described and validated, and then used to perform a large number of parametric studies, considering different cross-sectional dimensions and column slendernesses. It is found that all specimens failed by overall flexural buckling, and the corresponding column curves in current design codes underestimate the dimensionless buckling strength of 960 MPa steel columns. Higher and more adequate column curves are suggested for such columns, and new column curves are proposed based on a non-linear fitting of the parametric results.