Strength enhancements in cold-formed structural sections — Part II: Predictive models

Cold-formed structural sections are manufactured at ambient temperature and hence undergo plastic deformations, which result in an increase in yield stress and a reduction in ductility. This paper begins with a comparative study of existing models to predict this strength increase. Modifications to the existing models are then made, and an improved model is presented and statistically verified. Tensile coupon data from existing testing programmes have been gathered to supplement those generated in the companion paper [1] and used to assess the predictive models. A series of structural section types, both cold-rolled and press-braked, and a range of structural materials, including various grades of stainless steel and carbon steel, have been considered. The proposed model is shown to offer improved mean predictions of measured strength enhancements over existing approaches, is simple to use in structural calculations and is applicable to any metallic structural sections. It is envisaged that the proposed model will be incorporated in future revisions of Eurocode 3 [2,3].

► Review of existing models for predicting strength enhancements from the literature ► Collection of additional test data for a range of section types from the literature ► Development of a predictive model for strength enhancements ► Reliability analysis on proposals for incorporating strength enhancements into design