Web crippling behaviour of cold-formed steel channel sections with web holes subjected to interior-one-flange loading condition-Part I: Experimental and numerical investigation

Web openings are increasingly used in cold-formed steel beam members of buildings to facilitate ease of services. In this paper, a combination of tests and non-linear finite element analyses is used to investigate the effect of such holes on web crippling under the interior-one-flange (IOF) loading condition; the cases of both flange fastened and flange unfastened to the bearing plate are considered. The results of 61 web crippling tests are presented, with 18 tests conducted on channel sections without web openings and 43 tests conducted on channel sections with web openings. In the case of the tests with web openings, the hole was either located centred beneath the bearing plate or having a horizontal clear distance to the near edge of the bearing plate. A good agreement between the tests and finite element analyses was obtained in term of both strength and failure modes.