1961 - Structural Problems in The Use of CFS Sections

Paper No.
6495
STRUCTURAL PROBLEMS IN THE USE OF COLD-FORMED

STEEL SECTIONS
Amos Henry Chilver, M.A., B.%,, Pl1.D.

Chadwick Professor of Civil Engineering, University College, London
For discussion at an Ordinary Meeting on Tueshy, 14 November, 1961, at 5.30 p.m.,
and for subsequent written discussion
SYNOPSIS
A survey is made of the main structural design problems of thin-walled steel
members; the structural components discussed are tensile members, columns,
and beams. It is shown that most ofthe basic problemsoriginate in the thinness
of the material; thinness may give rise to twisting of tensile members, to local
buckling where compressive stresses are high, and to torsional buckling effects
in columns and beams.
Cold-formed steel sections are made from hot-rolled steel strip; the shapes
which can be formedare discussed briefly. The flexural and torsional properties
of thin-walled open sectionsare reviewed; the shear-centre axisand the warping
stifFness are defined.
The design of columns requiresa knowledge of both local and overall c o l u m n
buckling. The strengthof beams is governed by localbuckling in compres-
sion flangesand webs, and, for narrow beams, by overall lateral buckling.
Finally, a brief comparison is made of the relative structural efficiencies of
cold-formed and hot-rolled steel sections; comparisons are given of channel
columns, and weights of steelwork used in industrial sheds.
~NTRODUCTTON
THIN-WALLED steel members have been used for many years in buildings both
as main structural components, and as secondary members; wall panels and
floor units are used as well as structural sections.
2. During the past 15 years m a n y studies have been made in this country
and abroad of the design problems of light-gauge steel sections. Some of the
earliest workon local bucklingin thin steel members was carried out by Winter’
in the United States; a design specification has been based on this work2. At
about the same time studies were madein Britain by Moir and Kenedi3, and in
1951 Shearer Smith also proposed design
a specification4. Further re-
searches5.6.7, * have been made in the last 10 years, and it is now possible to
formulate design methods for a number of simple problems; these researches
form the basis of a recent British design specification* for the use of cold-
formed steel sectionsin building.
1The references are listedon p. 256.

*This designspecificationhasbeenpublished as Addendum No. 1 (1961)to
B.S.449:1959, “The use of structural steel in building”.
233
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234 CHILWR ON STRUCTURAL PROBLEMS
3. Light-gauge steel sections may be consideredto be generally thinner than
hot-rolledsections,becausethey are cold-formedfromsheet and strip steel
having thicknesses up to 0.25 in. Hot-rolled steel sections use thicker materials
of the order of 0.25 in. and greater.
4. Cold-formed sections are made from hot-rolled strip either by a process
of continuous cold-rolling of the strip, or by cold-pressing into the required
shape. The cold-rolling process9 is suited to the manufacture of long, contin-
uous lengthsof a section. In the cold-pressingprocess, on the other hand,
relatively short lengths of sections are made. By cold-formingprocesses
almost any type of section can be made.* Generally the sections are open, but
they may also be closedby welding.
5. Most of the problemsintroduced by cold-formedsectionshave their
origins in the relative thinness of material. After the cold-forming process, the
sections are treated to prevent corrosion?; in thin-walledsections,corrosion
might lead to serious reductions in strength. In the handling and transit of
cold-formed sectionscare must betaken to prevent local damageto the relatively
thin walls. Under load, sections must be checked for local strength as well as
overall strength; the local strength is governed largely by the thinness of the
material; where the torsional stifhess of sections is important, overall strength
may also depend on thinness.
6. The Paper begins with a brief discussion of the basic material properties
of cold-formed steel sections, and of the geometry of formed sections. The
flexural and torsional properties of open thin-walled sectionsare then reviewed.
The strengths of tension members, columns, and beams are then studied; pro-
blemsof structural connexions are mentionedbriefly.Finally,cold-formed
steel sections are compared with hot-rolled sections from the point ofviewof
structural efficiency.
BASICPROPERTIES OF THE MATERIAL

7. For general structural workcold-formedsteelsections are made from
hot-rolled steel strip or sheet. Sections are produced usually from low carbon
steels, but high-strength steels may also be used economically in some applica-
tions. The hot-rolled steel strip used has an ultimate tensile stress of not less
than 24 tons/sq. in., and atensile yield stressof not less than 14 tons/sq. in. The
ductility of the steel is determinedfrom a bend test (B.S.1449:1956).
8. From tests on formed steel sections, Young's modulus has been found to
have a mean value of about 12,000 tons/sq. in., for low carbon steels. Measured
values may vary between 11,000 tons/sq. in., and 13,000 tons/sq. in., depending
upon the typeofsteel and strip. Typical stress/strain curvestakenfrom a
formed section are shown in Fig. 1. The tensile stresslstrain curveshows a
gradual development of inelastic strains as full yieldingisapproached. The
compressive stress/strain curve may showa higher limit of proportionality, and
a more sudden onset of yielding. Although the compressiveyieldstress has
been measured in some research studies,in practice it is simpler to measure the
tensile properties, which are used generally as the basic material properties in
design.
* A wide range of sections is given in B.S.2994:1958.

t Phosphate treatments for the prevention of corrosion arespecified in B.S.3189 :1959.
IN THE USE OF COLD-FORMED STEEL SECTIONS 235
9. The effect of the cold-forming operation on the steel strip or sheet is to
produce considerable cold-working in the regions of the corners of a section.
Hardness measurementslO at points inthe cross-section of a channel section,for
example, show that the material in the regions of the corners is considerably
harder than atthe free edges of the flanges. Where there are a large number of
corners in a section, cold-working may increase the average tensile yield stress
over an appreciable area of the cross-section. At present no account is taken
of the possible increased tensile strength which a strip may develop by being
formed into a section.
GEOMETRY OF FORMED SECTIONS
10. Sections are cold-formed from steel strips or sheets of uniform thickness.
This property of uniform thickness is preserved during the forming process, even
at relatively sharp corners.
11. Some commonly used cold-formed steel sections are similar to standard
hot-rolled sections, such as angle-and channel-sections (Fig. 2a). More efficient
use of the material can be made when reinforcing “lips” are formed on the
flanges of the sections (Fig. 2b); reinforcement may also take theform of “ribs”
rolled or formed in the web or flanges of the sections(Fig. k).Composite
sections maytake a numberof forms,from open I-sectionsto closed box-sections
(Figs 2d and 2e).
STRAIN
FIG. 1 .-STRESS/STRAIN
CURVES FROM TENSILE AND COMPRESSIVE TESTS
12.Astudylo of alargenumberofchannelsections,with 90” corners,

showed that the average value of internal radius at the corner was equal to the
thickness, t, of the section, while the average value of outside radius was 2t,
Fig. 3a. This suggests that the uniform thickness of a section is preserved at
the corners.
13.Thisgeometry at a right-anglecornerofasectionleads to a simple
method of evaluating the geometrical properties of sections with right-angle
corners. In a channel section (Fig. 3b), “basic corners” are first removed; the
geometrical properties of these basic corners, whichare taken arbitrarily 0.25 in.
by 0.25 in., are calculated separately from the remaining flat strips of the section.
Tables” are available for geometrical evaluation of any sections having outside
dimensions which are multiples of 0.25 in.*
* This method of evaluating geometrical properties, to the Author’s knowledge, was

suggested first by F. W.L. Heathcote, Esq.
236 CHILVER ON STRUCTURAL PROBLEMS
P-
(e1
FIG.2.-TYPES OFCOLD-FORMEDSTRUCTURAL SECTION: (a) PLAIN, (b) LIPPED, (C) RIBBED,
(d) AND (e) COMPOSITE
IN USE
THE OF COLD-FORMED STEEL SECTIONS 237
FLEXURE
OF THIN-WALLED OPEN SECTIONS
14. Many of the cold-formed sections usedin practice are open in form, that
is, the sections are not formed into closed tubes. Generally, these open sections
do not have two axes of symmetry in the cross-sectional form; the bending
behaviour12 of such beams may be different from that of doubly-symmetrical
hot-rolledI-sections, It is important first to determine the longitudinalaxis
on which lateral loads must be applied to an open-section beamto give bending
without torsion; this is known as the shear-centre axis.
15. In the cross-section of the beam shown in Fig. 4, C is the centroid, and
FIG.3.-(a) GEOMETRY
AT A RIGHT-ANGLE CORNER OF A sec no^; (b) EVALUATION
OF THE
GEOMETRICALPROPERTIES OF A COLD-FORMED STEEL CHANNEL SECTION
C x , C yare principal centroidal axes;the wall-thickness at any pointof the cross-

section is t ; the second moments of area of the cross-section about Cx, Cy are
Z,, Zy, respectively.Bending of the beamtakesplacewithouttorsion if the
resultant shearing forces on all cross-sections pass through a point 0 having

co-ordinates:
where (X, y ) are the co-ordinates of any point on the centre-line of the wall, S is
the distance measured along the centre-line, m is the total length of the centre-
line, and
where p is the perpendicular distance from the centroid to a tangent at a point

of the wall. The point0 is the shear centre,and the longitudinal axis connecting
points 0 is the shear-centre axis. If the resultant shearing force at any cross-
Y
t
FIG.4.-PRINCIPAL CENTROIDAL AXES AND SHEAR CENTRE OF AN OPEN SECTION
section passes through the shear-centre axis, bending of the beam takes place
without torsion. It is important to note that the shear-centre axis does not, in
general,coincidewith the centroidalaxis. For doubly-symmetricalcross-
sectional forms, 0 and C are coincident, Fig. 5b. For mono-symmetrical cross-
sections, Fig. 5a, 0 lies on the axis of symmetry but is not coincident, in general,
with C.
TORSION OF THIN-WALLED OPEN SECTIONS

16. A property of an open thin-walled section is that its stiffness in uniform
torsion is proportional to the cube of the wall thickness. If, in uniform torsion,
0 is the angle of twist per unit length, the applied torque is
T = K10 . . . . . . . . (3)
where Kl is the uniform torsional stiffness.With the notation used in the
preceding section,
Kl = fmfGf3ds . . . . . . * (4)
0
where G is the shearing modulus. If the wall is of uniform thickness,
1
K - - Gmt3 . . . . . . . . (5)
1-3
17. In uniform torsion, cross-sections of the beam can warp freely; in prac-
tice this freedom rarely exists,and it is important to consider the effectsof warp-
ing restraints. Such restraints lead to longitudinal direct stresses, and the angle
of twist per unit length may vary along the beam. If 4 is the actual angle of
twist of the section at any point a distance z, from one end, the applied torque
is given by:
where Kl is again given by equation (5), and K2 is the warping stifTness1*~13 of

the section. The value of K2 is defined by:
Y
Y
t Y
FIG.5.-(a) SECTIONS; (b) BI-SYMMETRICAL

MONO-SYMMETRICAL SECTJON
where
in which A is the area of the cross-section, and r is the lengthof the perpendicular
from the shear centre, 0, to the tangent at any point of the wall.
TENSILE MEMBERS
18. The importanceof thinness in structural members can be illustrated first
in relation to tensile members. The Z-section shown in Fig. 6 is built into a
rigid wall at one end, and carries an axial tensile load P at the free end. It may
be shown that due tothe action of the tensile load thefree end of the Z-section
twists an amount:
3P b2h
-
G
(1 -=h aL)-- radians . . . . . (9)
where G is the shearing modulus, L is the length of the section, b is the breadth
of the flange, h is the depthof the web, t is the uniform thickness of the section,
and
4G (h 2-
a2 = - -
+
b)V
E (2h+b)b3h2 * * a *
e (l')e
When the member is very long, the angle of twist approximates to:
FIG. 6.-TWISTING OF A z-SECTION DUE TO AXIAL TENSILE LOAD
It is important to note that the angle of twist is inversely proportional to f 3 .

Twisting of tensile members maytherefore be relatively important in thin-walled
structural sections. The member shown in Fig. 6 may represent, in practice, a
tie loaded axially at the centre of the web at the freeend. Except for the ideal
case of uniform tensile stress over the entire cross-section, twisting will usually
take place in thin-walled ties.
OVERALL COLUMN BUCKLING

19. In discussing the strength of thin-walled columns it is essential to dis-
tinguish between two types of failure. When the column is slender it is prone
to overall column buckling; in a stocky column, on the other hand, the thin
walls may be prone to local buckling,
20. Overall column buckling for structural members is complex, in general;
the commonest mode of failure of hot-rolled steel sections is one .of flexural
buckling aboutthe axis of weakestbendingstiffness. This is 60 most
hot-rolled sections have at least one axis of symmetry of the cross-section, and
are so proportioned that flexural buckling can occur without torsion.
21. It has beenshown that the torsional stifFnessof an openthin-walled
section is proportional to the
cube of the wall thickness. In building up'a general
theory of overall column buckling of open thin-walled struts, it is.important,
therefore, to consider the dfects of torsional distortions on the' stability. In
21
FIG.?Sb.-BUCKUNG GP A PLAIN 1-BEAM
FIG. Z ~ . - ~ A LBUCKLED mnm of A FAMILY of PLAIN
CHANNEL SECTIONS
FIG. 27.--TEsTs ON WELDEDCONNEXIONS(FROMREFEREUCE 29)
IN THE USE OF COLD-FORMED STEEL. SECTIONS 241
closedthin-walledcolumns, torsional actions are not so important,and in
design their effects are generally ignored.
22. Overall column buckling has been studied by a number of writers. Sup-
pose the column, whose cross-sectionis shown in Fig. 4, is simply supported at
each end in flexure, and that the ends are free to warp torsionally. The critical
stress, U,.,,for uniform compression is given12 by the roots of the cubic equation:
+ +
(ro2- xo2- yO2)uc,3 [xo2u1 yo2u2- ro2(u1 UP + + U~)IU,,~
+ r ~ 2 ( u ~ u ~ + ~ ~ ~ 3 + u ~ u ~ ) u c ,= . l (12)
- r0~ 2 u u~u3
1
where ro2 = xo2+yo2+~(Zx+ZY) . . . . . (13)
and
The stresses u1 and u2 are the critical stresses for simple flexural bucklingabout
the axes y and X, respectively. If the cross-section hasno axis of symmetry, one
solution of the cubic gives a valueof U,., smaller than bothu1 and u2.
23. If the x-axis is an axis of symmetry, then yo= 0, and the cubic equation
reduces to :
(ucr-ul)[uc,2(ro2-x~2)-uc,(u~+~3)~~2+u2u3r02] =0. . (15)
This gives either U,., = u1, or the solution of a quadratic for U,. ; the quadratic
may give a value ofucrless than u1, when the mode of buckling is oneof flexure
combined with torsion.
24. Whenacross-sectionhastwoaxes of symmetry, xo= yo=O, and the
cubic equation reduces to:
.
) 0 .
( U ~ , - U ~ ) ( ~ ~ , - U ~ ) ( U , , - U ~= .
. . (16)
Then U,, is the smallest of ul,u2, and u 3 ;the stresses u1 and u2 correspond to
flexural buckling about the axes Cy, Cx, respectively, while u3 corresponds to
torsional buckling.
25. The importance of torsional buckling effects maybe illustrated in relation
to an equal-angle column, Fig. 7. If the angle-section is thin-walled, the shear-
centre 0 is at the junction of the two limbs; the geometrical properties are given
approximately by:
1 1 1
I = -63t Z - - 63t, ro2 = -62 . . . . (17)
3 ' y-12 3
Then
where r, is the radius of gyration of the cross-section about the y-axis. I t is
easily shown that ucI is less than u1 when:
< $Jg(;) . . . . . . (19)

If E= 2.6G, then torsional-flexural buckling occursif:
26. The modes of failure of an equal-angle column are shown in Fig. 7; for
small valuesof Ljr, and b/t, the column fails primarilyby yielding of the material
22
in compression; for larger values of L/ry and blt there are two domains, one of
flexural buckling about the y-axis, and the other of torsional-flexural buckling.
The boundariesbetween the domains and the region of material failure are not
defined sharply, but are regions in which the modes of failure may interact.
Other types of columns, such as channel sections, behave similarly; for a given
cross-sectional form, the mode of buckling is determined by a parameter of the
type :
L t
.,"z * m
. (21) .
when the cross-section has one axisof symmetry.
VALUES OF
1
FIG.'J.-BUCKL.INGDOMAINS OF ANEQUAL-ANGLECOLUMN
b C A L BUCKLING IN COLUMNS
27. Overallbuckling is acharacteristic of longcolumns.Thin-walledcol-
umns which are relatively short may be prone to local buckling of the walls.
Sections in common use are cold-formed into flat plate elements, and the local
buckling strength of a section is governed by the instability of these plate ele-
ments.
28. The buckling of singleflatplates in compression has been studied
widely14.15. For a thin, flat,rectangular plate simply supported on all four
edges, and compressed uniformly on two opposite edges (Fig. 8), the critical
value of compressive stress at the onset of buckling is:
I N THE
USE OF COLD-FORMED STEEL SECTIONS 243
where m is the number of longitudinal half-waves in the direction
of compression,
and D is the flexural stiffness defined by:
in which Y is Poisson's ratio.

29. An important characteristic of the buckling of flat plates is that whereas
the modeof buckling is dependenton the length of the plate, the buckling stress,
as defined by equation (22), is largely independent of length for long plates;
equation (22) is plotted in Fig. 8. The mode of instability is one giving roughly
square buckled panels. The minimum buckling stress is:
which is inversely proportionalto the square of the thinness ratio(blt).
0 1 2 3 4 5
-
L
b
FIG. 8.-BUCKLING OF A FLATRECTANGULARPLATE,SIMPLYSUPPORTED ON ALLFOUR
EDGES, AND UNIFORMLYCOMPRESSED ON TWO OPPOSITEEDGES
30. If the thinness ratio of a plate is large, initial buckling does not imply
complete collapse of the plate. In a plate loaded through rigid end beams, for
example, there is a re-distribution of stresses overthe breadth of the plate after
the onset of initial elastic buckling. The compressive stress at the centre of the
plate remains roughly equalto the initial buckling stress,ucr,whereas the com-
pressive stress, a,, at the supported edges of the plate may be greater than U,,,
as the total end load is increased (Fig. 9). Final collapse of the plate occurs
when the compressive stresses on the supported edges are equal approximately
to the yield stress, uy,of the material. The average compressive stress, amaX, on
the loaded edgesat maximum load-carrying capacity is a function of a,, and U,,,
and it is most convenientto define a,,,,, in the form:
where the function F is determined by experiment. It is convenient to consider

the parameter d=, since from equation (24) it is proportional to the thin-
ness ratio, blt. The variation of u,,,,,/u,, with du,/ucr for a large number of
compressed metal plates of different materials16.17 is shown in Fig. 10; when
d/ou/o,,is of order 3, the average compressive stress,c,,,,,,at collapse is at least
twice as great as the initial buckling stress, uCr.
31. The local buckling of thin-walledcolumnscomposed of a number of
flat-plate elements may be discussed in a similar way. Initial elastic buckling
occurs at a critical compressive stress given by:
Fra. 9.-(a) DISTRIBUTION STRESS AT INITIALBUCKLING;(b) DISTRIBUTION

OF (~IMPRFSSIVB
OF COMPRESSIVE STRESS IN THE POST-BUCKLING RANGE ; (C) DISTRIBUTION
OF COMPRES-
SIVBSTRESS AT M A X I " LOAD-CARRYING CAPACITY
0 I
VALUES OF e 2
FIG.10.-AVERAGE"UMCOMPRESSIVB STRESSES POR SINGLE FLAT PLATES

3
IN THB USE OF COLD-FORMED STEEL SECTIONS 245
where K is a constant depending on the geometrical form, and blt is the thinness
ratio of one plate element of the section. The constantK defines the interaction
between component plates of the section; methods of defining K have been
developed by a number of writersl5.18~19920. The mode of buckling is again
dependent on the length of the column; all plate elements buckleinto the same
number of longitudinal half-waves. In the channel section shown in Fig. 24*,
buckling occurs simultaneously in the flanges and the web. Values of the con-
stant K in equation (26),for a channel section,are shown in Fig. 11 ;the variation
of K with lengthis small if the c o l u m n is not too short, and for design purposes
the minimum value Kminis used. Values of Kminfor plain and lipped channels
are shown in Fig. 12.
32. Results of tests on a lipped channel section are shown in Fig. 13 ; a
family of testedplainchannelsections is shown in Fig. 26. Initial elastic
bucklingstresseshavebeenmeasuredexperimentally18 for plain and lipped
channels, Fig. 14, and these are in reasonable agreement with theory.
VALUES OF #
FIG.11 .-THEORETICAL
ELASTIC LOCAL BUCKLING OF A PLAIN CHANNEL COLUMN
33. Initial elastic buckling does not imply collapse of a thin-walled column.
The average compressive stress at maximum load-carrying capacity is given again
by a function of the form:
Te~ts20.21.2~
?EZ
UY
= F (,/z).
-
. . . . . .
on channel sections suggestthat the function Fhas the form shown
(27)
in Fig. 15.
34. In practice column failure is caused by the effects of overall and local
buckling interacting. Results of testson columns with hingedends23 are plotted
* Figs 24-21 are photographs and are printed between pp. 240-241.
in Fig. 16; ,,,U is the average local buckling stress for very short columns,
determined experimentally, and a, is the theoretical overall column buckling
stress. The average stress, a, at failure of a column suffering both overall and
local buckling is shown in Fig. 16. A possible design approach is to describe
the shaded area in Fig. 16 by an interaction curve.
LOCAL BUCKLING IN BEAMS

35. Structural problems in cold-formed steel beams are again caused by the
relativethinness of the material.Localbucklingproblemsmayarisewhere
plate elements are compressed, as, for example, compression flanges, sheared
webs, and beam supports.
9
VALUES OF -
bf
bw
FIG. 12.-ELASTICLOCALBUCKLINGCONSTANTS €OR PLAIN AND LIPPEDCHANNELS OF
UNIFORMWALLTHICKNESS
36. The compression flangesof a thin-walled beamare prone to local buckling

in the same way as the compressed plate-elementsof a column; the effect of this
on the behaviour of a beam can be illustrated by reference to Fig. 17. As the
-..
U
I I
H
Half-wavelength of buckling
5 10 15 20
LENGTH : IN.
FIG.13.-RESULTS OF COMPRESSION TESTS ON A LIPPED CHANNELCOLUMN
1279 ( 1 - p .4 6 "
FIG.~A-INITIAL LOCAL BUCKLINGSTRESSES FOR CHANNELSTRUTS
Plain channels
1.0
0.8
8
E 0.4
3
3
0.2
0
0 05 1.0 1.5 l0 2.5 3.0
VALUES OF g
FIG. 15.--ReSu~~sOF COMPRESSION TESTS ON PLAIN AND LIPPED CHANNEL SECTIONS
CE OF COLUMN
LURE STRESSES
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0 0.2 0-4 0.8 1-0
0'
VALUES OF -
QC
FIG.1 INTERACTION BETWEEN LOCAL BUCKLING AND OVERALL COLUMN BUCKLING
IN THE USE OF COLD-FORMEDSTEEL SECTIONS 249
beam is loaded, normal elastic behaviour takes place up to the point of initial
elastic buckling of the compression flange. If loading is continued beyond this
stage, the heavilybuckledregions of the compressionflange arenot fully
effective; at the maximum load-carrying capacity of the beam the neutral axis
of bending has movedtowards the tensionflange,because the compression
flange is only partly effective. For a plate element of actual breadth, b, which is
capable of carrying an average compressive stress U,,,, at collapse, the effective
breadth of the plate element is:
be = b ( 2 ) . . . (28)
where U,, is the yield stress of the material. From a large number of tests on
thin-walled steel sections, Winter1 suggeststhe relationship:
-
- . E
b "=J?(I-O*3 . .) (29) . .
for compression flanges supported on bothlongitudinal edges,and the relation-
ship :
for compression flangessupported onone longitudinal edge

but free on the other.
Ineffective regions
COMPRESSION FLANGE
.\
Geometrical
of flanges neutral axis
.-.
.-.
Neutral axis
at collapse
(II_
TENSION FLANGE
FIG. I~.-~NEFFECTIVE
REGIONS OF THE COMPRESSION FLANGES OF THIN-WALLED I-BEAMS
37. Buckling may occur not only in compressed plates but also in sheared
plates. In a rectangular flat plate carrying shearing stresses on the edges, the
mode of buckling is one of wavesrunning diagonally in the general directionof
the principal compressive stress. The initial elastic buckling shearing stress for
a rectangular plate of breadth b, length L, and thickness t is approximately:
The maximum Ioadcarrying capacity of sheared plates has been studied by

Fkrgmann24. The averageshearingstresswhichmaybedevelopedbefore
yieldingoccurs is shown in Fig. 18 for amild-steelmaterial for which
uY/E=1.047X 10-3; values are given for infinitely long, simply supported plates
and fixed plates.
38. The buckling of the web of a beam due to direct bending stresses has
been studied14, although little experimental confirmation of the theory is avail-
able at present. Theoretical studies have also beenmadeof the buckling of
rectangular plates under combined bending and shear.
39. A further form of local buckling is possible in thin-walled beams: at a
point of support a concentrated load may be applied to the web of the beam; if
the loadconcentrationis excessivethe web may cripple. A theoretical treatment
VALUES OF
FIG. 18.-AVERAGE SHEARING STRESS AT INITIAL YIELDING OF INFINITELY LONG

RECTANGULAR PLATES FOR WHICH
- = 1.047 X 10-3
E
Uniformly-distributed l a d W perunit length
FIG. LOADING AND SUPPORT CONDITIONS FOR A BI-SYMMETRICAL BEAM
IN THE USE OF COLD-FORMED STEEL SECTIONS 25 1
of a simple problemof this type has been givenby Timoshenko14, who findsthat
a long flat rectangularplate buckles under a point compressive load P when:
(32)
LATERAL BUCKLING OF UNRESTRAINEDBEAMS

40. Lateral instability25 in cold-formed steel beams may be caused either by
the large length-to-breadth ratio, or to the thinness of the section, which gives
rise to a low torsional stiffness.
41. In practice, beams commonly carry a load distributed either along the
compressive or the tensileflange. In Fig. 19, adoubly-symmetricalI-beam,
fabricated from two channel sections,is simply supported at each end on rollers.
Verticalrollers are also provided at the ends to preventtwisting. The com-
posite beam carries a uniformly distributed vertical load of intensity W, applied
to thecentre of thecompressiveflange. If the load ismaintainedvertical
during buckling, the critical value of W is, approximately,
where L is the length of the beam between supports, Kl and KZ are the uniform
torsional and warping stifFnesses,respectively, and B is the lateral bending
stiffness. The maximum compressive stress induced by the critical load is:
ucr = 2*79E(?)'[?] [Jl+L$-0.460] . . (34)

If the beam is loaded on the tension flange, the second terms in square brackets
in equations (33) and (34) change sign,and the beam buckles at a higher critical
load. Equation (34) may be written in the form:
Or, =
2.79E
- . . . . . . . (35)
H f ,
where ( L / r J e f fis the effective slendernessratio, and is defined by:
42. The validity of equation (34) waschecked by aseries of tests on I-

section beams, fabricated by welding two channels back-to-back. The I-beams
were 6 in. deep and either 3 in. or 4 in. wide. Each beam was supported on
knife edgesat the remote ends,at a height ofabout 5 ft above floor level, Fig. 25.
The beams were loaded by four hydraulic jacks equally spaced alongthe span:
the jacks were hinged to a reinforced-concrete slab-floor. Loads were applied
to the test-beam through half-rollers placed centrally on the upper flange, thus
ensuring that the load passes through the Centre of the flange even when the
beam is buckled, Fig. 25b.However,in the buckled mode the loading jacks
rotate slightly from the vertical position, thus introducing small lateral forces.
These lateral forces are very small for short beams, but may be equivalent to a
slight lateral restraint for longbeams. The bendingmomentsdue to four
discrete loads, each of magnitude Wl4, are very nearly equal at all points of the
span to the moments due to a uniformly distributed load of 1-2W, i.e. 20%
greater than W. Results of tests26 on fabricated I-beams are shown in Fig. 20;
the nominal maximum compressive stresses derived from lateral buckling tests
are compared with the critical stress for a uniformly-distributed load applied to
the centre of the compressive flange. The yield stress of the material used was
of the order 18 tons/sq. in., and this accounts for the low values of compressive
stress at the small slendernessratios.
43. Experimentalstudieshavealsobeenmade of the lateral bucklingof
cold-formed steeltrusses27 fabricated from open and closed members, and more
recently theoretical studies28 have been madeof this type of problem.
FLOOR AND CEILINGSYSTEMS

44. The majority of cold-formed steel sections produced in this country are
used as single structural components. A more commonuse in the United
States is for floor decks, in which a flat floor surface is formed by placing
broad,
shallow sections side by side, as shown in Fig. 21. A similar method can be
used in ceiling beams; the cellular nature of the floor or ceiling allows electrical
wiring and other services to be carried withinthe beams.
45. Sections of this type have broad thin, compressive flanges. From tests
by Winter1 the effective breadths of these flangesat any average stress U are given
approximately by :
6, = 1.9t d: [ 1-0.574 l:/, . . . . . (37)

which is valid approximately for the range:
STRUCTURAL CONNEXIONS
46. The relative thinness of cold-formed steel sections introduces a number
of connexionproblems.Spot-weldedconnexionsmustbedesigned so that
localbucklingdoes not occurbetweenspot-welds.Atabolted joint, local
buckling may occuron the compressed side of the joint, and washers may have
to be used under the bolt-head and nut to provide support to the compressed
plate.
47. High-strength steel bolts may be used to advantage in cold-formed steel
construction. The materialrequirements of high-strengthsteelbolts are the
same as in hot-rolled construction (and are defined by B.S.449:1959, Clause 5d
(ii)). The thinness of cold-formed steel members may imply that heavy con-
centrated loads cannot be transmitted through a bolt-hole, because of local
buckling or bearing failure around the hole; the possibility of a failure of this
type must be considered, therefore, in design. When cold-formed steel members
are boltedtogetherwithspacesbetween the members,spacingwashers are
introduced to eliminate local distortions around bolt-holes.
48. Atthe presenttime, research29t30 into connexionbehaviour is in
progress at the Royal College of Science and Technology,Glasgow,where
VALUES OF k] eff.
FIG. TESTS ON LATERALLY UNRESTRAINED I-BEAMS
I U U U ROOF DECK
FIG. 2I.-ROOF DECKS

(ABOVE) AND FLOOR
PANELS
(BELOW) IN COLD-FORMED STEEL
connexions of the type shown in Fig. 27 have been tested; complete frames and
their connexion behaviour have also been studied.
STRUCTURAL EFFICIENCY OF COLD-FORMED SECTIONS

49. The versatility in shape ofcold-formedsectionsleads to considerable
structural economy of material. In Fig. 22 a comparison is madeof the relative
efficiencies ofchannel-section columnsas tabulated for cold-formed steel sections
and hot-rolled steel sections. The permissible load for the column is P , and L is
its length; the allowable working stress is plotted against P/L2,the latter being
on alogarithmic scale. When P/L2 is less than about10-3 tons/sq. in., the allow-
able stress in cold-formed steelstruts may be nearly doublethat in conventional
hot-rolled steel struts. This is so in spite of the fact that cold-formed steel strip
W
Hot-rolled channel
VALUES OF -
P
L2
: TONS/SQ. IN.
FIG.2 2 . 4 M P A R I S O N OF THE STRUCTURALEFFICIENCY OF HOT-ROLLED AND COLD-FORMED

STEEL CHANNEL SECTIONS
IN THE USE OF COLD-FORMED STEEL
SECTIONS 255
has a slightly lower yield stress
than the standard material of hot-rolled sections.
Withahigherworkingstresslessmaterial is required in the column. It is
important to note fromFig. 22 that cold-formed steel sectionsare more efficient
than hot-rolled sections eitherwhen the compressive load P is small,or when the
length L of the column is large. More general studies31.32 of this efficiency
problem have been made.
50. The economy of material in cold-formed steel beams with solid webs,
compared with similar hot-rolled steel beams, is not so pronounced; it may be
more economic of material to use fabricated open-web girders. An interesting
comparison has been given by Pugsley33 of the weights of steelwork used in
industrial sheds made by different methods of construction; this is shown in
Fig. 23, which is taken from reference 33, and fromwhich it is evidentthat cold-
formed steel design is more economical than other forms of construction in this
particular instance.
300
0 1000 2000 3000 4000
FLOOR AREA TO EACH INTERNAL COLUMN :
SQ. FT
FIG. 23.---COMPARISON OF
THEWEIGHTS OF STEELWORK USED IN INDUSTRIAL SHEDS FOR
DIFFERENT METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION. THE STEELWORKINCLUDES ROOF AND
COLUMNS
CONCLUSIONS
51. It has been demonstrated that most of the structural problems of thin-
walled steel members are due to the relative thinness of the material.
52. Sufficientexperimental and theoreticalknowledgeisnowavailable to
formulate rational design procedures for most simple design cases; the main
design problems of columns, beams, and floor systems have been discussed at
some length.
53. The unlimited variety of structural forms available makesfor an efficient
use of structural steel. This is particularly so in column design, although it is
not so pronounced for solid-web beams.
54. Structuraldesigninthin-walledsteelsectionsisstill in its infancy in
Britain. As the field develops, more refined design techniques will introduced.
be
There are indications at the present time, for example, that thin steel purlins can
be used efficiently and economically in conjunction with hot-rolled steelwork;
the design of such members is difficult since there is an important interaction

between the purlins and the supported roof. This, and similar problems, will
require careful researchfor a satisfactorysolution; however, researchcan indicate
solutions to only some of the main problems, and much will be left to the
designer’s skill.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
55. ’The Author is greatly indebted to the Cold-Rolled Sections Association
for its U n c i a l support of research programmes over the past 12 years, and to
Messrs W. ShearerSmith,A.M.I.C.E., J. 0. Hunter, F. W. L. Heathcote,
M.I.Mech.E., and E. Griffin of that Association, for their help in indicating the
relevant research problems. The Author is indebted particularly to Dr R. M.
Kenedi for the many valuable research studies he has made at the Royal College
ofScience and Technology,Glasgow, during the past 15 years.Finally, the
Author would like to thank Sir Alfred Pugsley, M.I.C.E., F.R.S., for his help
and encouragement at the University of Bristol, where research was carried out
from 1948 to 1954, and to Sir John Baker,M.I.C.E., F.R.S., for the
encouragement of further research at Cambridge University from 1954 to the
present time.
h3FERENCES
1. G.Winter, “Strength of thin steel compression flanges”. Proc. h e r . Soc. civ.
Engrs, vol. 72 (Feb. 1946), pp. 199-226.
2. G. Winter, “Commentary on (the 1956 edition of) light-gauge cold-formed steel
design manual”. Amer. Iron and Steel Inst., 1958.
3. C. M. Moir and R. M. Kenedi, “Factors influencing the design of thin-walled
columns”. Struct. Engr, vol. 26 (Feb. 1948), pp. 119-137.
4. W. Shearer Smith, “Cold-formed sections in structural practice with a proposed
design specification”. Struct. Engr, vol. 29 (June 1951), pp. 165-168.
5. R. M. Kenedi and W. Shearer Smith, “Applications of cold-formed sections”.
West of Scotland Iron and Steel Institute, pp. 24-50, vol. 66 (May 1958).
6. W. Shearer Smith, “Cold-formed sections”. Pages 241-247, 50th Ann. Confer-
ence, Inst. Struct. Engrs, 1958 (pub. 1960).
7. G. Winter, “Cold-formed, light-gauge steel construction”. Proc. Amer. Soc. civ.
Engrs, J. Struc. Div. (ST9) (Nov. 1959), pp. 151-171.
8. R. M. Kenedi and A. H. Chilver, “The contribution of research in developing the
use of cold-rolled sections in buildings”. Institute of Sheet Metal Engineering,
Symposium on theApplications of Sheet and Strip Metals in Building (April 1959),
12 pages.
9. E. Griffin, “Cold roll-forming and manipulation of light-gauge sections”. J. Inst.
Metals, vol. 84 (1955-56), pp. 181-197.
10. A. H. Chilver. Unpublished report of the Cold-Rolled Sections Association,
Birmingham, 1948.
11. Cold-Rolled Sections Association, “Manual of Technical Reference”, 1955.
12. S. Timoshenko, “Theory of bending, torsion, and buckling of thin-walled members
of open cross-section”. J. Franklin Inst., vol. 239 (1945), pp. 201-219, 249-268,
343-362.
13. A. H.Chilver, “Average warping in the torsion of thin-walled open-section beams”.
J. Mech. Phys. Solids, vol. 3 (1955), pp. 267-274.
14. S . Timoshenko, “Theory of elastic stability”. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1936.
15. E. Z . Stowell, G. J. Heimerl, C. Libove, and E. E. Lundquist, “Buckling stresses for
flat plates and sections”. Trans. Amer. Soc. civ. Engrs, vol. 117 (1952), pp. 545-
578 (incl. disc.).
16. T. von Karman, E. E. Sechler, and L. H. Donnell, “The strength of thin plates in
compression”. Trans. Amer. Soc. Mech. Engrs, vol. 54 (1932), pp. 53-96.
17. E. E. Sechler, “The ultimate strength of thin flat sheet in compression”. Publica-
tion No. 27, Guggenheim Aeronautics Laboratory, California Institute of Tech-
nology, 1933.
18. A. H. Chilver, “Behaviour of thin-walled structural members in compression”.
Engineering, vol. 172 (31 Aug., 1951), pp. 281-282.
19. A. H. Chilver, “A generalized approach to the local instability of certain thin-
walled struts”. Aeron. Qtly (Aug. 1953), pp. 245-260.
20. J. M. Harvey, “Structural strength of thin-walled channel sections”. Engineering,
vol. 175 (6 Mar., 1953), pp. 291-293.
21. A. H. Chilver, “The stability and strength of thin-walled steel struts”. The
Engineer (7 Aug., 1953), pp. 18&183.
22. A. H. Chilver, “Maximum strength of the thin-walled channel strut”. Civ. Eng.
Pub. Wks Rev., vol. 48 (1953), pp. 1143-1146.
23. A. H. Chilver, “The strength of cold-rolled steel columns and beams”. Technical
Report of the Cold-Rolled Sections Association, Birmingham, 1950, 56 pp.
2 4 . S. G. A. Bergman, “Behaviour of buckled rectangular plates under the action of
shearing forces”. Victor Pettersons, Stockholm, 1948, 167 pp.
25. 0.A. Kerensky, A. R. Flint, and W. C. Brown, “The basis for design of beams and
plate girders in the revised British Standard 153 ”.Proc. Instn civ. Engrs, Pt 111,
vol. 5 (1956). (With seven Appendices, pp. 396-461.)
26. A. H. Chilver, “Lateral buckling of unbraced I-beams of cold-formed steel”.
Technical Report of the Cold-Rolled Sections Association, Birmingham, 1960,
30 pages.
27. P. Warren,“Lateral buckling of cold-rolled steel trusses”. Thesis for Master’s
Degree, University of Bristol, 1953.
28. M. R. Horne, “The elastic lateral stability of trusses”. Structural Engineer, vol. 38
(May 1960), pp. 147-155.
29. R. M. Kenedi and E. R. Robertson, “The gusset plate strength of two-member in-
line welded joints”. Unpublished report, Royal College of Science and Tech-
nology, Glasgow, 1959.
30. E. R. Robertson and R. M. Kenedi, “Direct and bending actions in rigid-jointed
lightweight frames”. Unpublished report, Royal CollegeofScience and Tech-
nology, Glasgow, 1960.
31. R. M. Kenedi and J. M. Harvey, “Use of equal-strength sections in structural
design”. Transactions Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland,
vol. 94 (NOV.19-50), pp. 89-131.
32. R. M. Kenedi, W. Shearer Smith, and F. 0. Fahmy, “Light structures: Research
and its application to economic design”. Transactions Institution of Engineers
and Shipbuilders in Scotland, vol. 99 (Dec. 1955), pp. 207-264.
33. A. G. Pugsley, “The economy of structures”. J. roy. Aeron. Soc., vol. 63 (1959),
pp. 153-162.
The Paper, which was received on 30 June, 1960, is accompanied by seven

photographs and twenty-two sheetsof diagrams from which the half-tone page
plates and the Figures in thetext have been prepared.
23
IN THE USE OF COLD-FORMED STEEL SECTIONS
Written discussion on this Paper should be forwarded to reach the Institution

before 15 December, 1961, and will be published in or after April 1962. Con-
tributions should not exceed 1,200 WOrdS.-sEC.

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Paper No.

STRUCTURAL PROBLEMS IN THE USE OF COLD-FORMED

Amos Henry Chilver, M.A., B.%,, Pl1.D.

1The references are listedon p. 256.

BASICPROPERTIES OF THE MATERIAL

* A wide range of sections is given in B.S.2994:1958.

12.Astudylo of alargenumberofchannelsections,with 90” corners,

* This method of evaluating geometrical properties, to the Author’s knowledge, was

C x , C yare principal centroidal axes;the wall-thickness at any pointof the cross-

resultant shearing forces on all cross-sections pass through a point 0 having

where p is the perpendicular distance from the centroid to a tangent at a point

FIG.4.-PRINCIPAL CENTROIDAL AXES AND SHEAR CENTRE OF AN OPEN SECTION

TORSION OF THIN-WALLED OPEN SECTIONS

where Kl is again given by equation (5), and K2 is the warping stifTness1*~13 of

FIG.5.-(a) SECTIONS; (b) BI-SYMMETRICAL

FIG. 6.-TWISTING OF A z-SECTION DUE TO AXIAL TENSILE LOAD

It is important to note that the angle of twist is inversely proportional to f 3 .

OVERALL COLUMN BUCKLING

FIG. 27.--TEsTs ON WELDEDCONNEXIONS(FROMREFEREUCE 29)

< $Jg(;) . . . . . . (19)

in which Y is Poisson's ratio.

which is inversely proportionalto the square of the thinness ratio(blt).

where the function F is determined by experiment. It is convenient to consider

Fra. 9.-(a) DISTRIBUTION STRESS AT INITIALBUCKLING;(b) DISTRIBUTION

FIG.10.-AVERAGE"UMCOMPRESSIVB STRESSES POR SINGLE FLAT PLATES

LOCAL BUCKLING IN BEAMS

36. The compression flangesof a thin-walled beamare prone to local buckling

FIG.1 INTERACTION BETWEEN LOCAL BUCKLING AND OVERALL COLUMN BUCKLING

for compression flangessupported onone longitudinal edge

The maximum Ioadcarrying capacity of sheared plates has been studied by

FIG. 18.-AVERAGE SHEARING STRESS AT INITIAL YIELDING OF INFINITELY LONG

Uniformly-distributed l a d W perunit length

FIG. LOADING AND SUPPORT CONDITIONS FOR A BI-SYMMETRICAL BEAM

LATERAL BUCKLING OF UNRESTRAINEDBEAMS

ucr = 2*79E(?)'[?] [Jl+L$-0.460] . . (34)

42. The validity of equation (34) waschecked by aseries of tests on I-

FLOOR AND CEILINGSYSTEMS

6, = 1.9t d: [ 1-0.574 l:/, . . . . . (37)

FIG. TESTS ON LATERALLY UNRESTRAINED I-BEAMS

FIG. 2I.-ROOF DECKS

STRUCTURAL EFFICIENCY OF COLD-FORMED SECTIONS

FIG.2 2 . 4 M P A R I S O N OF THE STRUCTURALEFFICIENCY OF HOT-ROLLED AND COLD-FORMED

the design of such members is difficult since there is an important interaction

The Paper, which was received on 30 June, 1960, is accompanied by seven

Written discussion on this Paper should be forwarded to reach the Institution

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