Buckling Analysis of Cold-Formed Steel Lipped

Angle Columns
Ben Young, M.ASCE,1 and Ehab Ellobody2

Abstract: This paper describes the buckling behavior of cold-formed steel equally lipped angle columns. The initial local imperfections,
residual stresses, and corner material properties of the cold-formed steel angles have been measured experimentally and reported in this
paper. An accurate finite element model was developed to carry out the buckling analysis. Both initial local and overall geometric
imperfections have been incorporated in the model. The effect of residual stresses on the buckling behavior was investigated. The material
nonlinearities of flat and corner portions of the angle sections were considered in the analysis. The finite element analysis was performed
on equally lipped angles compressed between fixed ends for different column lengths, and column curves were obtained. The nonlinear
finite element model was verified against recent experimental results. An extensive parametric study was carried out using the finite
element model to study the effects of cross section geometries on the strength and behavior of lipped angle columns. The column strengths
predicted by the finite element model were compared with the design strengths calculated using the North American Specification and
Australian/New Zealand Standard for cold-formed steel structures. In addition, the results obtained from the finite element model were
also compared with the design strengths obtained from proposed design rules. It is shown that the proposed design rules accurately
predicted the column strengths for non-slender lipped angles and were quite conservative for slender lipped angles.
DOI: 10.1061/共ASCE兲0733-9445共2005兲131:10共1570兲
CE Database subject headings: Buckling; Cold-formed steel; Finite elements; Steel structures; Structural design; Thin wall
structures.

Introduction cold-formed steel lipped angles for latticed transmission towers.

The use of cold-formed steel structural members for lightweight
structures is recommended as a result of the superior strength to
weight ratio and ease of construction. Single angle columns can
be used as simple structural members. The stability of a single
angle column is a current research area due to its complex buck-
ling behavior and rigorous design calculations. Many research
efforts have been found in the literature dealing with the behavior
of hot-rolled and cold-formed steel plain angle columns as sum-
marized in Yu 共2000兲, Popovic et al. 共2001兲, and Young 共2004兲.
The local buckling resistance of plain angle sections can be
enhanced by providing lips to form lipped angle sections, and
consequently column strength can also be increased. Cold-formed
steel lipped angles provided better performance than plain angles
in resisting compression loads and ensured higher stiffness. Some
researchers carried out experimental investigations to study the
behavior of cold-formed steel lipped angle columns. Zavelani and
Faggiano 共1985兲 introduced recommendations for the design of
1
Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, The Univ. of Hong
Kong, Pokfulam Rd., Hong Kong 共corresponding author兲. E-mail:
young@hku.hk
2
Lecturer, Dept. of Structural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
Tanta Univ., Tanta, Egypt.
Note. Associate Editor: Marc I. Hoit. Discussion open until March 1,
2006. Separate discussions must be submitted for individual papers. To
extend the closing date by one month, a written request must be filed with
the ASCE Managing Editor. The manuscript for this paper was submitted
for review and possible publication on February 24, 2004; approved on
February 8, 2005. This paper is part of the Journal of Structural Engi-
neering, Vol. 131, No. 10, October 1, 2005. ©ASCE, ISSN 0733-9445/
2005/10-1570–1579/$25.00.
The recommendations were based on the American Iron and Steel
Institute Specification and test results, including the correlation
between test results and design recommendations. Gaylord and
Wilhoite 共1985兲 also investigated the design of cold-formed steel
lipped angles for steel transmission towers. It was concluded that
cold-formed steel members provide maximum efficiency, in-
creased flexibility in member sections, and reduced numbers of
members and connecting bolts. Raghunathan et al. 共1996兲 studied
the behavior of cold-formed steel lipped angle members for X
bracing. Two full-scale panel tests were conducted. The panels
were designed so that the compression member would fail by
buckling in either a flexural mode in the first panel or flexural–
torsional mode in the second panel. The members were designed
using the American Society of Civil Engineers Manual 共ASCE
1988兲. It was observed that although flexural buckling governed
the design in the first panel, the member buckled only in the
flexural–torsional mode. Marsh 共1997兲 discussed the behavior of
single lipped angle columns, and simplified design formulas were
proposed. It was concluded that open sections in compression
may fail in modes that involve flexure and torsion and both failure
modes must be considered in design formulas. Young 共2005兲 con-
ducted a series of tests on cold-formed steel equally lipped angle
columns compressed between fixed ends. The failure modes in-
volved local, flexural, and flexural–torsional buckling. However,
tests of fixed-ended cold-formed steel equally lipped angles are
limited.
Previous research carried out by Weng and Peköz 共1990兲,
Schafer and Peköz 共1998兲, and Jiao and Zhao 共2003兲 explained
that the behavior of cold-formed steel columns is affected by
initial geometric imperfections and residual stresses. Furthermore,
previous research conducted by Young and Yan 共2002兲, Bakker

1570 / JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / OCTOBER 2005

and Peköz 共2003兲, and Ellobody and Young 共2005兲 showed that
combining experimental investigation with numerical modeling
provides better understanding for the buckling behavior of thin-
walled structures. Therefore, an accurate finite element model is
needed to understand the buckling behavior of lipped angle col-
umns.
The objective of this paper is first to measure the initial local
imperfections, residual stresses, and corner material properties of
cold-formed steel equally lipped angle columns as part of the
experimental investigation. Second, an accurate finite element
model simulating the behavior of cold-formed steel equally lipped
angle columns is developed. The results obtained from the finite
element analysis are verified against the test results carried out by
Young 共2005兲. Parametric study was performed to investigate the
effect of cross section geometries on the behavior of equally
lipped angle columns. The results obtained from the finite element
analysis were compared with design strengths calculated using
the North American Specification 共NAS 2001兲 and the Australian/
New Zealand Standard 共AS/NZS 1996兲 for cold-formed steel
structures. Lastly, the results obtained from the finite element
model were also compared with the design strengths obtained
from the proposed design rules in Young 共2004兲.
Experimental Investigation
General
A test program on cold-formed steel equally lipped angle concen-
trically loaded compression members has been conducted by
Young 共2005兲. The angle specimens were tested between fixed-
ended conditions at various column lengths. The lipped angle test
specimens were brake-pressed from high strength zinc-coated
structural steel sheets. These structural steel sheets conformed to
the Australian Standard AS 1397 共AS 1993兲. The specimens were
cut to a specified length ranging from 250 to 3,500 mm. Three
series of lipped angles were tested, having a nominal flange width
of 70 mm and a nominal lip width of 15 mm. The nominal plate
thicknesses were 1.2, 1.5, and 1.9 mm. The three series are la-
beled L1.2, L1.5, and L1.9 according to their nominal thickness.
The test specimens are labeled such that the test series and speci-
men length could be identified from the label. For example, the
label “L1.2L1500” defines the specimen belonging to test Series
L1.2, and the fourth letter “L” indicates the length of the speci-
men. The last three or four digits are the nominal column length
of the specimen in millimeters 共1,500 mm兲. If a test was repeated,
then the letter “R” indicates the repeated test. The measured in-
side corner radius was 2.6 mm for all specimens. The shortest
specimen lengths complied with the Structural Stability Research
Council guidelines 共Galambos 1998兲 for stub column lengths. The
longest specimen lengths produced ley / ry ratios of 99.0, 98.4, and
98.0 for Series L1.2, L1.5, and L1.9, respectively, where ley is the
effective length for buckling about the minor y axis and ry is the
radius of gyration of the full unreduced cross section about the y
axis. The measured cross-section dimensions of the test speci-
mens are detailed in Young 共2005兲.
Tensile coupon tests were conducted to obtain the material
properties in the flat portion of the test specimens. The longitudi-
nal coupons were taken from the center of the flange plate of the
cold-formed specimens. The coupon dimensions conformed to the
Australian Standard AS 1391 共AS 1991兲 for the tensile testing of
metals using 12.5 mm wide coupons of 50 mm gage length. The
measured material properties in the flat portion of the test speci-
JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / OCTOBER 2005 / 1571
mens obtained from the coupon tests are summarized in Table 2.
The measured material properties of the static 0.2% proof stress
共␴0.2兲, static tensile strength 共␴u兲, Young’s modulus 共E兲, and elon-
gation after fracture 共␧兲 based on a gage length of 50 mm are
shown in Table 2. The 0.2% proof stress was used as the corre-
sponding yield stress in calculating the design strength of the
columns. The tensile coupon tests of the flat portion of the speci-
mens are detailed in Young 共2005兲. The initial overall geometric
imperfections of the column specimens were measured. The
maximum overall geometric imperfection at mid-length was
1 / 1,970 of the specimen length for both Series L1.2 and L1.5,
and 1 / 1570 of the specimen length for Series L1.9.
A servo-controlled hydraulic testing machine was used to
apply compressive axial force to the specimen. A moveable upper
end support allowed tests to be conducted at various specimen
lengths. The fixed-ended bearings were designed to restrain
against minor and major axis rotations as well as twist rotations
and warping. Displacement control was used to drive the hydrau-
lic actuator at a constant speed of 0.2 mm/ min for all column
tests. The use of displacement control allowed the tests to be
continued in the postultimate range. The experimental ultimate
loads and the failure modes of the lipped angle column tests are
detailed in Young 共2005兲. The failure modes of the columns in-
volved local buckling 共L兲, flexural buckling 共F兲, and flexural–
torsional buckling 共FT兲. Young 共2005兲 did not report the initial
local geometric imperfections, residual stresses, and corner mate-
rial properties of the test specimens, and the values of these mea-
surements are important for finite element analysis. Hence, the
initial local imperfections, residual stresses, and corner material
properties of the lipped angle specimens belonging to the same
batch as the column test specimens are measured in this study and
reported in this paper.
Initial Local Geometric Imperfections
Measurements of initial local imperfections are carried out in this
study using the coordinate measuring technique with a laser scan-
ner as detailed in Ellobody and Young 共2005兲 for plain angle
sections. An equally lipped angle test specimen of 300 mm in
length for Series L1.9 was used for the measurement of local
imperfections. The measurements were taken at the middle and
quarter lengths of the specimen. Readings were taken at regular
intervals and maximum magnitude of local plate imperfection
was 0.01 mm, which is equal to 0.53% of the angle thickness. The
same factor was used to predict the initial local geometric imper-
fections of the angle specimens for Series L1.2 and L1.5.
Residual Stresses
For an accurate finite element model, all the parameters that
might affect the behavior of lipped angle columns need to be
considered, such as the magnitude and distribution of residual
stresses. The method of sectioning was used to determine the
residual stresses of the equally lipped angle section for Series
L1.9. The lipped angle section was cut into strips to release the
internal residual stresses. The strains were measured before and
after cutting of the section, consequently residual stresses can be
determined. The angle specimen was marked into strips of 10 mm
width as shown in Fig. 1. A gage length of 100 mm was marked
on the outside and inside surfaces of each strip along the mid-
length of the specimen. The residual strains were measured using
a Cambridge Insitu Demountable, which has a sensitivity of
0.005 mm over a gauge length of 100 mm. The initial readings
Fig. 1. Positions of wire cutting and measurements for determination
of residual stresses

Fig. 2. Distribution of membrane and bending residual stresses along

before cutting were recorded for each strip together with the cor-
responding temperature. A wire-cutting method in water was used
to eliminate additional stresses from the cutting process. The
readings were taken after cutting and the corresponding tempera-
ture was recorded again. The readings were corrected for the tem-
perature difference before and after cutting. The residual strains
were measured for both inner and outer sides of each strip. The
membrane residual strain was calculated as the mean of the
strains 共inner strain+ outer strain兲 / 2. The bending strain was cal-
culated as the difference between the outer and inner strains di-
vided by two 共outer strain− inner strain兲 / 2. Compressive mem-
brane strains 共negative values兲 were recorded at the corners, while
tensile membrane strains 共positive values兲 were recorded at the
flat portion of the angle section. Positive bending strain indicates
compressive strain at inner fiber and tensile strain at outer fiber.
Residual stresses are calculated by multiplying residual strains by
the Young’s modulus of the test specimen for Series L1.9. Table 1
summarizes the membrane and bending residual strains at the
measurement sections with reference to Corners A and B, as
shown in Fig. 1. The distribution of membrane and bending re-
sidual stresses in the cross section of the test specimen is shown
in Fig. 2. The same lipped angle specimen was used for the initial
local geometric imperfections and the residual stresses measure-
ments.
Corner Material Properties
The material properties in the corners of the equally lipped angle
section were determined for Series L1.9 by carrying out two ten-
sile coupon tests at Corners A and B, as shown in Fig. 1. The
corner coupon specimens were taken from the relevant corner
cross section of Series L1.9
strips after the wire cutting of the specimen used to measure the
residual stresses. The corner coupon specimens have an initial
curvature after cutting from the angle section, and the effect of
bending residual stresses is included in the stress–strain curve of
the corner tensile coupon tests. The material properties of the
corners of Series L1.2 and L1.5 were extrapolated from the ma-
terial properties of the Series L1.9 according to the measured
0.2% tensile proof stress 共␴0.2兲 in the flat portions of each series.
The testing procedures of the corner coupons followed the Aus-
tralian Standard AS 1391 共AS 1991兲. The testing procedures are
detailed in Ellobody and Young 共2005兲. The material properties of
the flat portion of the specimens were reported by Young 共2005兲.
The measured and predicted material properties of the corner and
flat coupons are summarized in Table 2. The table shows the
values of the static 0.2% proof stress 共␴0.2兲, Young’s modulus 共E兲,
the static tensile strength 共␴u兲, and the tensile strain after fracture
共␧兲. Fig. 3 shows the stress–strain curves of the flat and corner
portions for Series L1.9. It should be noted that the ductility of
the corner coupons is much less than that of the flat coupon. On
the other hand, the static 0.2% proof stresses of the corner Cou-
pons A and B are 19 and 17% more than that of the flat coupon,
respectively.
Finite Element Model
The measured geometry, initial local and overall geometric im-
perfections, residual stresses, and material properties at the flat

Table 1. Measured Membrane and Bending Residual Strains for Series

L1.9 Table 2. Material Properties for Series L1.2, L1.5, and L1.9

Distance from Membrane Bending E ␴0.2 ␴u ␧

Corner A strain strain Test series Portion 共GPa兲 共MPa兲 共MPa兲 共%兲
共mm兲 共␮strain兲 共␮strain兲 L1.2 Flat 211 580 595 9.0
0 共Corner A兲 −390 −820 Corner A 206 690 730 2.5
10 95 165 Corner B 206 680 725 2.9
20 120 260 L1.5 Flat 212 505 550 11.0
30 240 590 Corner A 206 600 640 2.5
40 275 585 Corner B 206 590 630 2.9
50 160 490 L1.9 Flat 213 495 535 10.0
60 80 205 Corner A 206 590 625 2.5
70 共Corner B兲 −440 −920 Corner B 206 580 620 2.9

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Fig. 3. Stress–strain curves of flat and corner portions for Series L1.9
and corner portions of the lipped angle columns were imple-
mented in the finite element model. The finite element program
ABAQUS 共2003兲 was used in the analysis for the simulation of
equally lipped angle columns tested by Young 共2005兲. The finite
element model of lipped angle columns followed the same ap-
proach as detailed in Ellobody and Young 共2005兲 for plain angle
columns. Two types of analyses were carried out. The first is
eigenvalue analysis to determine the buckling modes and loads,
where the second is load-displacement nonlinear analysis. Four-
noded doubly curved shell elements with reduced integration S4R
were used in the model. The S4R element has six degrees of
freedom per node and gave accurate solutions in previous re-
search 共Ellobody and Young 2005兲. The element allows for trans-
verse shear deformation that is important in simulating thick shell
elements. The element also accounts for finite strain and is suit-
able for large strain analysis. The finite element mesh size of
10 mm⫻ 10 mm 共length by width兲 was used for the flat portions
and a finer mesh size was used at the corners. Fig. 4 shows the
undeformed shape of a typical finite element mesh for an equally
lipped angle specimen of 1,000 mm in length.
In the finite element model, the ends of the columns were fixed
in all degrees of freedom except for the displacement at the
loaded end in the direction of the applied load, as in the testing
procedures for all lipped angle columns. The nodes other than at
the two ends were free to translate and rotate in any direction. The
load was applied in increments using the modified RIKS method
available in the ABAQUS library. Static uniform loads were ap-
plied at each node of the loaded end, as in the experimental in-
vestigation. The nonlinear geometry parameter 共*NLGEOM兲 was
included to deal with the large displacement analysis. The stress–
strain curves for the flat and corner portions were used in the
analysis. The static stress–strain curves were first obtained from
Fig. 4. Undeformed shape of equally lipped angle column
L1.2L1000
JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / OCTOBER 2005 / 1573
Fig. 5. Distribution of average membrane residual stresses in corner
and flat portions of L1.9 section
the static loads near the 0.2% proof stress and ultimate stress. The
analysis of postbuckling involves large inelastic strains, hence,
the nominal 共engineering兲 static stress–strain curve was converted
to true stress and logarithmic plastic strain curve 共ABAQUS
manual 2003兲.
Both initial local and overall geometric imperfections were
incorporated in the model. Superposition of local buckling mode
as well as overall buckling mode with measured magnitudes was
carried out. These buckling modes were obtained by eigenvalue
analysis of the column with very high b / t ratio and very low b / t
ratio to ensure local and overall buckling occurs, respectively.
The shape of a local buckling mode as well as overall buckling
mode is found to be the lowest buckling mode 共Eigenmode 1兲 in
the analysis. Stub columns having short length 共column lengths of
250 and 625 mm兲 were modeled for local imperfection only. All
buckling modes predicted by the ABAQUS eigenvalue analysis
are normalized to 1.0, therefore, the buckling modes are factored
by the measured magnitudes of the initial local and overall geo-
metric imperfections.
To ensure accurate modeling of the behavior of equally lipped
angle columns, the residual stresses were included in the finite
element model, although their effect on the ultimate capacity
is considered to be small 共Schafer and Peköz 1998; Ellobody
and Young 2005兲. Measured residual stresses are included
in the finite element model by using the ABAQUS
共 *INITIAL CONDITIONS, TYPE= STRESS兲 parameter. The flat
and corner coupon material included the effect of bending re-
sidual stresses, hence, only the membrane residual stresses were
modeled in this study. The average values of the measured mem-
brane residual stresses were calculated for corner and flat por-
tions. A preliminary load step to allow equilibrium of the residual
stresses was defined before the application of loading. Fig. 5
shows the distribution of the average values of the measured
membrane residual stresses as a percentage of the 0.2% proof
stress 共␴0.2兲 of the flat coupon for Series L1.9.
Verification of Finite Element Model
In the verification of the finite element model, a total of 23 cold-
formed steel equally lipped angle columns was analyzed. A com-
parison between the experimental results and the results obtained
from the finite element analysis is carried out. The main objective
of this comparison is to verify and check the accuracy of the finite
element model. The comparison of the ultimate loads 共PTest and
PFE兲, axial shortening 共eTest and eFE兲 at the ultimate loads, and
failure modes obtained experimentally and numerically is shown
Table 3. Comparison between Test and Finite Element 共FE兲 Results
Test FE Test/FE

PTest eTest Failure PFE eFE Failure

Specimen 共kN兲 共mm兲 mode 共kN兲 共mm兲 mode PTest / PFE eTest / eFE
L1.2L250 57.9 0.49 L 55.2 0.44 L 1.05 1.11
L1.2L1000 40.3 1.16 L + FT 40.8 1.29 L + FT 0.99 0.90
L1.2L1500 33.4 1.71 L + FT 34.8 1.51 L + FT 0.96 1.13
L1.2L2000 30.3 2.21 L + FT 31.5 2.05 L + F + FT 0.96 1.08
L1.2L2500 27.2 2.29 L + F + FT 26.7 2.11 L + F + FT 1.02 1.09
L1.2L3000 22.3 2.36 L + F + FT 23.3 2.12 L + F + FT 0.96 1.11
L1.2L3500 19.4 2.47 L + F + FT 20.2 2.29 F + FT 0.96 1.08

Mean — — — — — — 0.99 1.07

COV — — — — — — 0.037 0.073

L1.5L250 84.6 0.70 L 80.1 0.74 L 1.06 0.95

L1.5L625 74.9 1.48 FT 74.7 1.61 FT 1.00 0.92
L1.5L1000 54.9 1.16 FT 54.7 1.12 FT 1.00 1.04
L1.5L1500 48.7 2.22 FT 50.0 2.12 F + FT 0.97 1.05
L1.5L2000 41.5 2.30 FT 43.3 2.22 F + FT 0.96 1.04
L1.5L2500 39.4 2.39 F + FT 38.1 2.17 F + FT 1.03 1.10
L1.5L3000 37.3 2.85 F + FT 34.8 2.43 F + FT 1.07 1.17
L1.5L3500 30.9 3.00 F + FT 30.1 2.57 F 1.03 1.17

Mean — — — — — — 1.02 1.06

COV — — — — — — 0.039 0.086

L1.9L250 130.9 1.07 L 122.5 0.97 L 1.07 1.10

L1.9L625 103.5 1.72 FT 104.2 1.89 FT 0.99 0.91
L1.9L1000 79.8 3.00 FT 83.2 3.22 F + FT 0.96 0.93
L1.9L1500 69.3 2.19 FT 73.0 2.15 F + FT 0.95 1.02
L1.9L2000 64.3 2.73 FT 67.1 2.51 F + FT 0.96 1.09
L1.9L2500 52.9 2.88 F + FT 54.4 2.63 F + FT 0.97 1.10
L1.9L3000 47.5 3.10 F + FT 45.8 2.78 F + FT 1.04 1.12
L1.9L3500 40.4 3.15 F + FT 37.3 2.82 F 1.08 1.12

Mean — — — — — — 1.00 1.05

COV — — — — — — 0.053 0.082

in Table 3. Fig. 6 plotted the relationship between the ultimate

load and the column effective length 共ley = L / 2兲 for Series L1.2,
L1.5, and L1.9, where L is the actual column length. It can be
seen that good agreement has been achieved between the experi-
mental and numerical results for most of the columns. A maxi-
mum difference in ultimate load of 8% was observed between
experimental and numerical results for L1.9L3500 column.
The mean values of PTest / PFE ratio are 0.99, 1.02, and 1.0 with
the corresponding coefficients of variation 共COV兲 of 0.037,
0.039, and 0.053 for Series L1.2, L1.5, and L1.9, respectively, as
shown in Table 3. The mean values of eTest / eFE ratio are 1.07,
1.06, and 1.05 with the corresponding COV of 0.073, 0.086, and
0.082 for Series L1.2, L1.5, and L1.9, respectively. Generally,
good agreement has been achieved for most of the columns.
Three modes of failure have been observed experimentally and
verified by the finite element 共FE兲 model. The failure modes are
local buckling 共L兲, flexural buckling 共F兲, and flexural–torsional
buckling 共FT兲. Local buckling was observed in stub columns of
250 mm length and for most of the columns in Series L1.2. For
Fig. 6. Ultimate loads of equally lipped angle columns for Series
columns in Series L1.5 and L1.9 with lengths of 2,500 and
L1.2, L1.5, and L1.9
3,000 mm, interaction of flexural and flexural-torsional buckling

1574 / JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / OCTOBER 2005

 Fig. 7. Load-axial shortening curves for Column L1.2L1000 Fig. 9. Load-axial shortening curves for Column L1.2L1000

was observed in the tests and also predicted by the FE analysis.
Whereas, column lengths of 1,500 and 2,000 mm failed by inter-
action of flexural and flexural–torsional buckling in the FE analy-
sis while only flexural–torsional buckling was observed experi-
mentally. Column lengths of 3,500 mm failed by interaction of
flexural and flexural–torsional buckling in the tests while only
flexural buckling was predicted by the FE analysis.
Fig. 7 shows the ultimate load and axial shortening behavior of
Column L1.2L1000 that has a column length of 1,000 mm. The
curve predicted by the finite element analysis is compared with
the test curve. It is shown that both the column stiffness and
behavior reflects good agreement between experimental and finite
element results. The experimental ultimate load was 40.3 kN with
an axial shortening at the ultimate load of 1.16 mm compared
with 40.8 kN and 1.29 mm, respectively, predicted by the finite
element analysis. Fig. 8 shows the deformed shape of the equally
lipped angle column observed experimentally and confirmed by
the FE analysis. It can be seen that the finite element model
closely predicted the failure mode observed in the test. The effect
of residual stresses of the equally lipped angle columns was in-
vestigated for all columns. It was observed that the measured
membrane residual stresses have a negligible effect on the ulti-
mate load, stiffness of the column, load-shortening behavior, and
the failure mode. Fig. 9 shows the load versus axial shortening of
Column L1.2L1000. The curves were plotted with and without
the simulation of residual stresses. It can be seen that the ultimate
load and behavior of the columns are almost identical. Hence, in
order to avoid complexity in the analysis, the residual stresses
were not included in the parametric study.
Parametric Study
It is shown that the FE model closely predicted the behavior of
the equally lipped angle columns compared with the test results.
Hence, parametric study was carried out using the verified finite
element model to study the effects of cross section geometries on
the strength and behavior of lipped angle columns. A total of 40
equally lipped angle columns were included in the parametric
study. Five series of Columns L0.6, L0.8, L1.0, L3.0, and L5.2
having plate thicknesses of 0.6, 0.8, 1.0, 3.0, and 5.2 mm, respec-
tively, were studied. All angle sections had an overall flange
width 共B f 兲 of approximately 72 mm, which is the same as the test
specimens. The inner corner radius 共ri兲 was taken as equal to the
plate thickness, except for Series L0.6, L0.8, and L1.0, where the
inner corner radius is 2.6 mm as in the test specimens. The five
series had flat flange width-to-thickness ratio 共b / t兲 of 110, 82, 65,
20, and 10 for Series L0.6, L0.8, L1.0, L3.0, and L5.2, respec-
tively. The length of the lips 共Bl兲 was kept at 17.0 mm for all
series. Table 4 summarizes the dimensions of the five series ana-
lyzed in the parametric study. Each series of columns consists of
eight column lengths of 250, 625, 1,000, 1,500, 2,000, 2,500,

Table 4. Dimensions of Five Column Series Analyzed in Parametric

Study
Flanges Lips Thickness Radius
Bf Bl t ri
Series 共mm兲 共mm兲 共mm兲 共mm兲
L0.6 72.4 17.0 0.6 2.6
L0.8 72.4 17.0 0.8 2.6
L1.0 72.2 17.0 1.0 2.6
Fig. 8. Comparison of experimental and finite element analysis L3.0 72.0 17.0 3.0 3.0
deformed shapes of Column L1.2L1000 L5.2 72.8 17.0 5.2 5.2

JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / OCTOBER 2005 / 1575

Table 5. Summary of Parametric Study Results study results including ultimate loads 共PFE兲, axial shortening at
Finite element analysis ultimate load 共eFE兲, and failure modes is given in Table 5.

PFE eFE Failure

Specimen 共kN兲 共mm兲 mode Design Rules
L0.6L250 14.3 0.69 L
L0.6L625 12.2 0.63 L General
L0.6L1000 9.8 0.67 L + FT
A lipped angle section having equal flanges and lips is considered
L0.6L1500 9.1 0.74 L + FT
as a singly-symmetric section. Young and Rasmussen 共1998兲 rec-
L0.6L2000 8.1 0.89 L + FT
ommended that fixed-ended singly symmetric columns failing by
L0.6L2500 7.0 0.95 L + FT local and overall buckling be designed as concentrically loaded
L0.6L3000 6.2 1.11 L + FT compression members 共loading through the centroid of the effec-
L0.6L3500 5.1 0.94 L + FT tive section兲 and using an effective length of one-half of the col-
umn length. The lipped angle column tests were conducted be-
L0.8L250 24.4 0.89 L
tween fixed-ended bearings that restrained against the major and
L0.8L625 21.0 0.70 L minor axis rotations as well as twist rotations and warping.
L0.8L1000 16.8 0.74 L + FT Hence, the effective lengths 共le兲 for major 共lex兲 and minor 共ley兲
L0.8L1500 15.8 1.16 L + FT axis flexural buckling as well as torsional buckling 共lez兲 are as-
L0.8L2000 14.8 1.56 L + FT sumed equal to one-half of the column length 共L兲 for the fixed-
L0.8L2500 13.6 1.57 L + F + FT ended columns 共le = lex = ley = lez = L / 2兲. The design strengths were
L0.8L3000 12.5 1.53 L + F + FT calculated using the measured material properties of Series L1.9,
L0.8L3500 10.8 1.48 F + FT which is consistent with the parametric study.

L1.0L250 39.3 1.14 L

L1.0L625 36.6 1.20 L
North American Specification and Australian/New
Zealand Standard
L1.0L1000 31.8 1.13 L + FT
L1.0L1500 29.6 1.59 L + FT The North American Specification 共NAS 2001兲 for the design of
L1.0L2000 26.4 1.66 L + F + FT cold-formed steel structural members and the Australian/New
L1.0L2500 23.5 2.27 L + F + FT Zealand Standard 共AS/NZS 1996兲 for cold-formed steel structures
L1.0L3000 21.4 2.20 L + F + FT are used to calculate the column design strengths. It should be
L1.0L3500 19.3 2.65 F + FT noted that according to the NAS Specification and AS/NZS Stan-
dard, concentrically loaded compression members of angle sec-
L3.0L250 207.2 3.03 L tions shall be designed for an additional bending moment, calcu-
L3.0L625 176.5 3.34 FT lated as the axial load multiplied by an eccentricity of L / 1,000,
L3.0L1000 142.8 2.05 F + FT where L is the column length. The required additional moment
L3.0L1500 117.7 2.22 F + FT was not included in calculating the design strengths of the lipped
L3.0L2000 111.8 2.55 F + FT angle columns in this paper. The design equations for determining
L3.0L2500 91.5 2.67 F
the nominal axial strength of concentrically loaded compression
members are detailed in Section C4 of the NAS Specification
L3.0L3000 78.9 2.30 F
共2001兲 and Section 3.4 of the AS/NZS Standard 共1996兲.
L3.0L3500 57.7 2.71 F

L5.2L250 392.5 4.38 L Proposed Design Rules

L5.2L625 342.9 4.50 FT
The design rules proposed in Young 共2004兲 were used to predict
L5.2L1000 218.3 2.32 F + FT
the design strengths of the cold-formed steel equally lipped angles
L5.2L1500 185.0 2.22 F + FT
of the parametric study. The proposed equations required simple
L5.2L2000 172.1 2.70 F + FT
modification to the critical inelastic and elastic buckling stresses
L5.2L2500 133.6 2.82 F 共Fn兲 in the NAS Specification 共2001兲 and AS/NZS Standard
L5.2L3000 118.2 2.30 F 共1996兲. The proposed design equations are as follows:
L5.2L3500 80.5 3.21 F
2
For ␭c 艋 1.4 ⇒ Fn = 共0.5␭c 兲Fy 共1兲

3,000, and 3,500 mm. The maximum initial local geometric im-
perfection magnitude was taken as the measured value of 0.53%
For ␭c ⬎ 1.4 ⇒ Fn = 冋 册
0.5
␭2c
Fy 共2兲

of the plate thickness. The maximum initial overall geometric

where the nondimensional slenderness 共␭c兲 is given as
imperfection magnitude was taken as the average of the measured
maximum overall imperfections of the tested series, which is
equal to L / 1816, where L is the column length. The residual
stresses were not considered since the effect on the column ca-
␭c = 冑 Fy
Fe
共3兲

pacity and load-shortening behavior is negligible. The measured where Fy = yield stress 共0.2% proof stress兲 and Fe = least of the
stress–strain curves of the flat and corner portions of Series L1.9 elastic flexural, torsional, and flexural–torsional buckling stress
were used in the parametric study. A summary of the parametric determined in accordance with Sections C4.1–C4.4 of the NAS

1576 / JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / OCTOBER 2005

Fig. 10. Comparison of finite element column strengths with design
strengths for Series L0.6
Specification 共2001兲 and Sections 3.4.1–3.4.4 of the AS/NZS
Standard 共1996兲. The proposed column design strengths 共P P兲
were than computed as P P = AeFn, where Ae is the effective area
calculated at critical buckling stress 共Fn兲.
Young 共2004兲 proposed the same critical buckling stress equa-
tions for plain angle columns, except that the elastic buckling
stress 共Fe兲 is determined from the flexural buckling only rather
than the least of the elastic flexural, torsional, and flexural–
torsional buckling stress. In this study, the elastic buckling stress
has been determined based on the flexural buckling only for the
lipped angle columns, and the column design strengths were
found to be quite unconservative. Therefore, the elastic buckling
stress 共Fe兲 must be determined from the least of the elastic flex-
ural, torsional, and flexural–torsional buckling stress for lipped
angle columns.
The measured material properties of flat portion of Series
L1.9, tabulated in Table 2, were used in the calculation of the
design strengths using Eqs. 共1兲 and 共2兲. Therefore, the equations
are limited for cold-formed steel lipped angle sections of Grade
450.
Comparison of Column Strengths
The column strengths 共PFE兲 obtained from finite element analysis
in the parametric study of Series L0.6, L0.8, L1.0, L3.0, and L5.2
are compared in Figs. 10–14, with the nominal 共unfactored兲 col-
umn design strengths 共PNAS兲 and 共PAS/NZS兲 obtained using the
North American Specification 共NAS 2001兲 and Australian/New
Fig. 11. Comparison of finite element column strengths with design
strengths for Series L0.8
JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / OCTOBER 2005 / 1577
Fig. 12. Comparison of finite element column strengths with design
strengths for Series L1.0
Zealand Standard 共AS/NZS 1996兲 for cold-formed steel struc-
tures, respectively. The column strengths 共PFE兲 are also compared
with the design strengths 共P p兲 obtained using the proposed design
rules in Young 共2004兲. In Figs. 10–14, all column strengths are
nondimensionalized with respect to the nominal stub column de-
sign strength 共section capacity兲 Ps, in which Ps = AeFy, where Ae
is the effective area calculated at the yield stress 共Fy兲 using the
NAS Specification 共2001兲, as shown on the vertical axis of Figs.
10–14, while the horizontal axis is plotted as le / ry, where le is the
effective length assumed equal to one-half of the column length,
and ry is the radius of gyration of full unreduced cross section
about the minor principal y axis.
Generally, the design strengths PNAS predicted by the NAS
Specification are identical to those design strengths PAS/NZS pre-
dicted by the AS/NZS Standard. For the slender sections of Series
L0.6, L0.8, and L1.0 having plate thickness of 0.6, 0.8, and
1.0 mm, respectively, the design strengths PNAS and PAS/NZS are
generally conservative compared to PFE, except for the short col-
umns, as shown in Figs. 10–12. The conservatism increases as the
column length increases. For Series L3.0 having a plate thickness
of 3.0 mm, the design strengths PNAS and PAS/NZS are conserva-
tive, as shown in Fig. 13. For the non-slender section of Series
L5.2 having plate thickness of 5.2 mm, the design strengths PNAS
and PAS/NZS are unconservative, except for the short columns, as
shown in Fig. 14.
The proposed design strengths P p compared well with PFE and
accurately predicted the column strengths for the non-slender sec-
tion of Series L5.2, as shown from Fig. 14. The design strengths
P p were quite conservative for the slender sections of Series L0.6,
Fig. 13. Comparison of finite element column strengths with design
strengths for Series L3.0
 eTest ⫽ axial shortening from tests at failure;
Fe ⫽ elastic buckling stress;
Fn ⫽ critical buckling stress;
Fy ⫽ yield stress is taken as 0.2% proof stress 共␴0.2兲;
L ⫽ length of column specimen;
le ⫽ column effective length;
lex , ley ⫽ column effective length for buckling about minor
x axis and major y axis;
lez ⫽ column effective length for torsional buckling;
P ⫽ axial compressive load;
PAS/NZS ⫽ nominal axial strength calculated using Australian/
New Zealand Standard 共unfactored design
strength兲;
Fig. 14. Comparison of finite element column strengths with design PFE ⫽ ultimate load obtained from finite element
strengths for Series L5.2 analysis;
PNAS ⫽ nominal axial strength calculated using North
American Specification 共unfactored design
L0.8, L1.0, and L3.0 as shown in Figs. 10–13, respectively, ex- strength兲;
cept for the short columns. Therefore, the use of Eqs. 共1兲 and 共2兲 Pp ⫽ proposed design strengths 共unfactored design
is limited only for cold-formed steel non-slender equally lipped strength兲;
angles of Grade 450. Ps ⫽ nominal stub column design strength 共section
capacity兲;
PTest ⫽ test ultimate load 共test strength兲;
Conclusions ri ⫽ inside corner radius of specimen;
ry ⫽ radius of gyration about minor y axis;
A finite element model for the analysis of fixed-ended cold- t ⫽ plate thickness of specimen;
formed steel equally lipped angle columns has been presented. x,y ⫽ principal coordinates;
The initial local imperfections, residual stresses, and corner ma- ␧ ⫽ elongation 共tensile strain兲 after fracture based on
terial properties of the cold-formed steel lipped angle test speci- gage length of 50 mm;
mens have been experimentally measured and reported in this ␭c ⫽ nondimensional slenderness;
paper. The measured imperfections and material properties are ␴u ⫽ static ultimate tensile strength; and
included in the finite element model. It is shown that the finite ␴0.2 ⫽ static 0.2% tensile proof stress.
element model accurately predicted the strength and behavior of
lipped angle columns. Hence, a parametric study has been per-
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