DOI: 10.1002/stco.
202200018
André Dias Martins, Dinar Camotim, Pedro Borges Dinis, Man-Tai Chen, Ben Young
Local-distortional interaction in cold-formed steel lipped
channel beams: Experimental investigation
Nominee Professor Eduardo de Arantes e Oliveira Award 2021
This paper reports an experimental investigation on the behav-
iour and strength of cold-formed high-strength steel (G450–
G500) lipped channel beams susceptible to local–distortional
interaction. The experimental campaign comprised 36 tests in-
volving simply supported beams bent about the major axis, ex-
hibiting various ratios between their distortional and local criti-
cal buckling moments (from 1.09 to 1.46) and acted by either
uniform (20 tests) or non-uniform (trapezoidal: 16 tests) bending
diagrams. The results presented and discussed consist of equi-
librium paths, photos providing the evolution of the beam
­deformed configurations and failure moments. The paper also
includes a few remarks on the design, using the Direct Strength
Method, of the beams under consideration.
Keywords cold-formed steel lipped channel beams; experimental
investigation; four-point bending tests; uniform and non-uniform bending;
local–distortional interaction; Direct Strength Method (DSM) design
1 Introduction
The open cross-sections commonly used in cold-formed
steel (CFS) members render them highly susceptible to
instability phenomena involving either pure (local, distor-
tional or global – L, D or G) or coupled (L–D, L–G, D–G
or L–D–G) buckling modes. Concerning the members af-
fected by interaction phenomena, their structural behav-
iour is not yet adequately understood, which explains the
lack of efficient design approaches to handle interactive
failures involving distortional buckling – L–D, D–G or
L–D–G failures. The available studies on the influence of
L–D interaction on the behaviour and strength of CFS
members deal mostly with columns; indeed, the research
activity devoted to this type of interaction in CFS beams
(the topic of this work) is rather scarce. Due to space
limitations, no detailed review of the existing literature on
L–D interaction in CFS beams is presented here. It can be
found in [1]. Nevertheless, a few recent experimental
[1–3] and numerical [4–5] studies deserve to be men-
tioned.
This works reports an experimental investigation, planned
at the University of Lisbon and conducted at the Univer-
sity Hong Kong, on the behaviour and strength of CFS
high-strength steel (G450–G500) lipped channel beams
susceptible to L–D interaction. This study comprises the
performance of a significant set of ‘four-point bending’
tests involving simply supported beams bent about the
major axis, exhibiting various ratios between their distor-
tional and local critical buckling moments (McrD/McrL =
68 © 2022 Ernst & Sohn GmbH, Berlin. Steel Construction 16 (2023), No. 2
ARTICLE
1.09–1.46) and acted by either uniform (20 tests) or non-
uniform (trapezoidal – 16 tests with several gradients:
Ψ = 0.50, 0.625, 0.75, 0.875) bending diagrams. As ex-
pected, all the beams tested failed in L–D interactive
modes. The results presented and discussed consist of
equilibrium paths, photos providing the evolution of the
beam deformed configurations (including the collapse
modes) and failure moments. Finally, the experimental
failure moments are compared with their estimates pro-
vided by the (i) codified Direct Strength Method (DSM)
local and distortional strength curves and (ii) other avail-
able DSM-based design approaches developed specifical-
ly to handle L–D interaction.
2 Experimental investigation
2.1 Specimen geometries
Owing to the scarcity of available experimental results
concerning beams undergoing L–D interaction, it was
decided to perform ‘four-point bending’ tests of beams af-
fected by ‘true L–D interaction’, that is, those exhibiting
RDL = McrD/McrL @ 1.0. Shell finite element (SFE) models
were used to select the specimen geometries, accounting
for real test conditions and limitations, such as the maxi-
mum lengths and available wall thicknesses for each steel
grade, thus precluding the occurrence of L–D–G interac-
tion or shear buckling and web crippling in vulnerable
regions – a detailed description of the specimen geometry
selection procedure can be found in [1, 2]. In order to
vary the acting trapezoidal bending moment diagram, de-
fined by the ratio Ψ = M2/M1 (see Fig. 1), one applied
load location was kept unchanged, at a distance Ls1 = L/4
of the left support, while the distance of the second ap-
plied load to the right support (Ls2) was varied to achieve
the sought Ψ value – 5 Ψ values were considered in this
study, namely, 1.0 (uniform bending) and 0.875, 0.75,
0.625 and 0.50 (non-uniform bending).
Tables 1 and 2 show the geometries of the specimens
tested under uniform and non-uniform bending, respec-
tively: web (bw), flange (bf) and lip (bl) widths, wall thick-
ness (t*) and total length (L). These tables also include the
(i) McrD, McrL or McrD.max, McrL.max and RDL values and
(ii) Ls2 or Lm lengths (non-uniform bending). 18 beam ge-
ometries were selected for uniform bending tests (LC1–
LC18) and, to assess the test repeatability, two identical
beam pairs were considered (LC8 and LC14) – that is,
20 tests were conducted. As explained in Section 2.3,

A. Dias Martins, D. Camotim, P. Borges Dinis, M.-T. Chen, B. Young: Local-distortional interaction in cold-formed steel lipped channel beams: Experimental investigation
Fig. 1 Major axis bending moment diagrams acting on the beam speci-
mens
each test involves two identical (‘twin’) beams, leading to
a total of 40 beams tested – the twin beams are identified
by the letters ‘a’ and ‘b’ (see Tabs. 1 and 2). Concerning
non-uniform bending, four tests were conducted for each
Ψ value, involving the specimen geometries LC4–6–8–12
(total of 16 tests and 32 beams – each test also involves
two twin beams). For illustrative purposes, the label
‘LC4-0.5-a’ identifies a beam (i) with the cross-section
LC4, (ii) acted by a bending moment diagram defined by
Ψ = 0.50 and (iii) corresponding to the twin beam ‘a’.
2.2 Material properties
The determination of the relevant steel material proper-
ties considered in this study was conducted by means of
tensile coupon tests. Because all specimens were cold
rolled from the same steel sheet batch, it was decided to
extract two coupons, along the longitudinal direction,
from the web central regions of beams LC1-a and LC10-a,
deemed representative of all beams with nominal wall
thicknesses of 1.2 mm (G500) and 1.5 mm (G450), re-
spectively; note that these high-strength steel grades com-
ply with the specifications of AS 1397-2011 [6]. The cou-
pon dimensions were in accordance with the provisions
of ASTM-E8M [7] and the tensile tests were conducted in
an MTS displacement-controlled machine. The applied
load and axial strain measurements were recorded, at
regular intervals, in a data acquisition system – the cou-
pons were tested following the guidelines of [8]. Fig. 2
shows the test and static stress-strain curves yielded by
the tensile tests of the coupons extracted from beams
LC1-a (t = 1.5mm) and LC10-a (t = 1.2mm), as well as the
Fig. 2 Test and static stress-strain curves obtained from the tensile coupon tests (beams LC1-a and LC10-a)
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ARTICLE
most relevant material properties obtained: (i) Young’s
modulus (E), (ii) static 0.2 % proof stress (s0.2), (iii) static
tensile strength (su) and (iv) elongation after fracture (ef).
2.3 Brief description of the test setup and procedure
The experimental equilibrium paths and corresponding
failure moments were determined from conventional or
unconventional tests, depending on whether the beams
are under uniform or non-uniform bending. As the beams
have singly symmetric cross-sections, the need to avoid
torsion entails the simultaneous testing of two identical
beams, while ensuring the independence of their mechan-
ical behaviours. To achieve this goal, four auxiliary T-
shape aluminium blocks were placed at the loading and
support regions. The twin beams were bolted to these
blocks and stiffened by means of 90 mm-wide aluminium
plates, intended to avoid web crippling and/or local bear-
ing failures during the tests. Then, the four aluminium
blocks were bolted to load transfer steel plates, in order
to ensure uniform distributed loads at the beam end sup-
ports and loaded cross-sections. Fig. 3 shows a schematic
representation and an overall view of the various devices
used to perform beam tests.
The beam simple end supports were achieved using cylin-
drical rollers at each specimen end cross-section, whereas
one half-round or one roller was placed at the loaded
cross-section regions (see Fig. 3). While the former allows
only in-plane rotation, the latter allows in-plane rotation
and translation. Concerning the loading, a hydraulic ac-
tuator applies a vertical load, transmitted to the speci-
men, through a spreader beam, at two cross-sections: one
located Ls1 = L/4 away from the left support and the
other whose location depends on the sought trapezoidal
bending moment diagram (Ls2 – see Fig. 3) – each speci-
men is deemed to withstand half of the applied load. The
spreader beam prevents any lateral motion of the loaded
cross-sections, thus providing full lateral restraint at their
locations.
The locations and arrangement of the six LVDTs (Linear
Variable Differential Transformers) employed are indicat-
ed in Fig. 3 – four of them were placed below the specimen
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A. Dias Martins, D. Camotim, P. Borges Dinis, M.-T. Chen, B. Young: Local-distortional interaction in cold-formed steel lipped channel beams: Experimental investigation

Tab. 1 Lipped channel beam geometries, failure moments, critical local and distortional buckling moments and local and distortional slenderness values – uni-
form bending

Beam bw bf bl t* L MExp Failure MExp McrL McrD RDL lL lD

mm mm mm mm mm kNcm mode kNcm kNcm kNcm (–) (–) (–)

LC1-a 128.7 118.0 12.5 1.49 1800 560 L+D– 560 435 587 1.35 1.80 1.55
LC1-b 128.7 118.0 12.9 1.50 1800 560 L+D– 560 446 616 1.38 1.78 1.52
LC2-a 128.6 118.4 12.6 1.50 2200 558 L+D– 558 438 521 1.19 1.80 1.65
LC2-b 129.1 117.6 13.2 1.50 2200 558 L+D– 558 447 562 1.26 1.78 1.59
LC3-a 149.2 127.9 12.6 1.49 2200 687 L+D– 687 466 593 1.27 1.95 1.73
LC3-b 148.8 127.9 12.8 1.50 2200 687 L+D+ 687 475 611 1.29 1.94 1.71
LC4-a 149.1 127.5 13.3 1.49 2600 645 L+D– 645 468 573 1.22 1.95 1.76
LC4-b 149.1 127.7 13.2 1.50 2600 645 L+D– 645 476 575 1.21 1.94 1.77
LC5-a 129.2 118.1 12.9 1.49 2600 535 L+D– 535 434 509 1.17 1.81 1.67
LC5-b 128.9 117.9 12.9 1.49 2600 535 L+D– 535 434 508 1.17 1.80 1.67
LC6-a 169.0 127.6 13.1 1.49 2600 746 L+D– 746 548 662 1.21 1.94 1.76
LC6-b 169.2 127.5 12.9 1.48 2600 746 L+D– 746 538 643 1.20 1.95 1.78
LC7-a 169.2 107.7 13.1 1.49 2600 709 L+D– 709 674 762 1.13 1.64 1.54
LC7-b 169.0 107.8 12.9 1.49 2600 709 L+D– 709 671 749 1.12 1.64 1.56
LC8-a 188.4 128.3 13.1 1.49 2600 877 L+D– 877 618 757 1.22 1.95 1.76
LC8-b 188.5 128.2 13.0 1.49 2600 877 L+D+ 877 619 752 1.22 1.95 1.77
LC8-aR 188.7 128.4 12.1 1.49 2600 801 L+D– 801 613 690 1.13 1.96 1.84
LC8-bR 188.8 128.0 12.5 1.49 2600 801 L+D– 801 618 717 1.16 1.95 1.81
LC9-a 188.8 127.7 13.0 1.50 2200 838 L+D– 838 642 887 1.38 1.92 1.63
LC9-b 188.7 127.9 12.6 1.49 2200 838 L+D– 838 626 835 1.33 1.94 1.68
LC10-a 168.8 99.9 12.5 1.19 2600 541 L+D– 541 371 474 1.28 2.15 1.90
LC10-b 169.3 100.1 12.3 1.18 2600 541 L+D– 541 361 458 1.27 2.17 1.93
LC11-a 206.0 148.6 13.0 1.47 2600 915 L+D– 915 557 759 1.36 2.28 1.95
LC11-b 206.2 149.0 12.6 1.49 2600 915 L+D– 915 577 758 1.31 2.25 1.97
LC12-a 209.2 128.2 13.0 1.50 2600 954 L+D– 954 711 879 1.24 1.94 1.75
LC12-b 208.9 128.3 12.7 1.49 2600 954 L+D+ 954 694 843 1.22 1.96 1.78
LC13-a 229.0 158.4 12.7 1.47 2600 1065 L+D– 1065 588 859 1.46 2.42 2.00
LC13-b 229.3 157.8 12.8 1.48 2600 1065 L+D+ 1065 603 882 1.46 2.39 1.98
LC14-a 229.0 138.3 12.7 1.47 2600 1030 L+D– 1030 678 906 1.34 2.14 1.85
LC14-b 229.0 138.1 12.5 1.49 2600 1030 L+D+ 1030 706 913 1.29 2.11 1.85
LC14-aR 229.0 137.6 12.7 1.48 2600 1044 L+D– 1044 696 922 1.32 2.11 1.84
LC14-bR 228.9 137.6 12.6 1.49 2600 1044 L+D+ 1044 709 928 1.31 2.10 1.84
LC15-a 229.3 117.9 12.8 1.49 2600 1052 L+D– 1052 831 1011 1.22 1.84 1.67
LC15-b 228.9 118.1 12.7 1.49 2600 1052 L+D– 1052 828 999 1.21 1.84 1.67
LC16-a 128.9 108.2 12.6 1.48 2600 520 L+D– 520 479 523 1.09 1.65 1.58
LC16-b 128.9 108.1 12.6 1.48 2600 520 L+D– 520 479 523 1.09 1.65 1.58
LC17-a 129.7 109.9 12.3 1.18 2600 395 L+D– 395 238 321 1.35 2.37 2.04
LC17-b 128.9 109.8 12.5 1.20 2600 395 L+D– 395 249 336 1.35 2.33 2.00
LC18-a 128.1 99.7 12.9 1.20 2600 384 L+D– 384 280 382 1.37 2.11 1.80
LC18-b 128.6 99.8 12.5 1.19 2600 384 L+D– 384 273 363 1.33 2.13 1.85

bottom flanges, intended to measure the vertical displace- two loaded cross-sections (LVDT-3 and LVDT-4). The two
ments at each (i) loaded cross-section (LVDTs 1 and 2) and remaining transducers (LVDT-5 and LVDT-6) were placed
(ii) beam specimen cross-section equally distant from the on the specimen top flanges (15 mm away from the flange-

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A. Dias Martins, D. Camotim, P. Borges Dinis, M.-T. Chen, B. Young: Local-distortional interaction in cold-formed steel lipped channel beams: Experimental investigation

ARTICLE
Tab. 2 Lipped channel beam geometries, failure moments, critical local and distortional buckling moments and local and distortional slenderness maximum
values – non-uniform bending

Beam bw bf bl t* Ls2 Lm MExp.max RDL McrL.max McrD.max lL.max lD.max

(mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (kNcm) (–) (kNcm) (kNcm) (–) (–)

LC4-0.5-a 149.2 128.0 12.9 1.49 234 1716 745 1.26 507 639 1.88 1.67
LC4-0.5-b 148.9 127.9 12.9 1.48 234 1716 745 1.27 510 646 1.86 1.65
LC4-0.625-a 148.9 128.1 13.0 1.49 312 1638 741 1.22 525 641 1.84 1.67
LC4-0.625-b 149.4 128.0 13.1 1.49 312 1638 741 1.27 528 669 1.84 1.64
LC4-0.75-a 149.2 128.0 12.9 1.49 390 1560 728 1.22 514 628 1.86 1.69
LC4-0.75-b 149.3 127.9 13.1 1.49 390 1560 728 1.24 516 638 1.86 1.67
LC4-0.875-a 149.2 127.6 13.2 1.48 520 1430 680 1.27 487 617 1.91 1.69
LC4-0.875-b 149.2 127.7 13.4 1.49 520 1430 680 1.28 498 636 1.89 1.68

LC6-0.5-a 168.9 127.6 13.1 1.47 234 1716 864 1.34 603 810 1.84 1.58
LC6-0.5-b 168.7 128.0 13.0 1.49 234 1716 864 1.33 624 831 1.82 1.58
LC6-0.625-a 168.7 127.8 13.2 1.48 312 1638 863 1.35 600 807 1.85 1.59
LC6-0.625-b 168.9 127.8 13.1 1.48 312 1638 863 1.34 600 804 1.85 1.60
LC6-0.75-a 168.8 127.8 13.0 1.48 390 1560 826 1.29 585 754 1.87 1.65
LC6-0.75-b 169.3 127.8 13.1 1.48 390 1560 826 1.30 588 762 1.87 1.64
LC6-0.875-a 169.1 127.8 13.1 1.48 520 1430 760 1.28 563 721 1.91 1.69
LC6-0.875-b 168.9 127.7 13.0 1.49 520 1430 760 1.27 574 727 1.90 1.68

LC8-0.5-a 188.4 128.1 13.0 1.48 234 1716 991 1.42 697 992 1.83 1.53
LC8-0.5-b 189.0 127.6 13.1 1.48 234 1716 991 1.43 703 1003 1.82 1.53
LC8-0.625-a 188.5 128.3 12.7 1.48 312 1638 971 1.34 678 912 1.86 1.60
LC8-0.625-b 188.6 128.0 13.0 1.48 312 1638 971 1.36 682 928 1.85 1.59
LC8-0.75-a 188.2 128.2 13.0 1.48 390 1560 907 1.32 663 875 1.88 1.63
LC8-0.75-b 188.3 128.3 13.1 1.48 390 1560 907 1.33 664 880 1.88 1.63
LC8-0.875-a 188.5 128.0 13.2 1.48 520 1430 881 1.33 639 853 1.91 1.66
LC8-0.875-b 188.4 128.2 13.0 1.47 520 1430 881 1.31 624 816 1.93 1.69

LC12-0.5-a 209.6 128.1 12.8 1.50 234 1716 1106 1.44 816 1172 1.82 1.51
LC12-0.5-b 209.4 128.3 12.9 1.49 234 1716 1106 1.44 799 1151 1.83 1.52
LC12-0.625-a 208.9 128.3 12.6 1.50 312 1638 1076 1.36 792 1079 1.84 1.58
LC12-0.625-b 209.2 128.3 12.8 1.48 312 1638 1076 1.44 764 1098 1.86 1.55
LC12-0.75-a 209.2 128.1 12.8 1.49 390 1560 1057 1.33 762 1013 1.87 1.62
LC12-0.75-b 209.2 128.3 12.8 1.48 390 1560 1057 1.41 746 1048 1.89 1.59
LC12-0.875-a 209.0 128.1 12.8 1.48 520 1430 972 1.34 716 958 1.92 1.66
LC12-0.875-b 209.3 128.0 12.8 1.49 520 1430 972 1.34 732 977 1.91 1.65

lip corners) at this last cross-section, which was acted by load and six LVDT readings during the tests, at 1 s inter-
the ‘mean bending moment’, in order to measure vertical vals, thus providing the data required to determine
displacements mostly caused by distortional deformation. smooth equilibrium path curves.

In order to capture rigorously the specimen’s geometri-

cally non-linear behaviours, displacement control was
used to drive the hydraulic actuator, at a constant speed
of 0.3 mm/min. Its displacement was paused for 100 sec-
onds when the applied load was close to its maximum
value, thus allowing for a stress relaxation that made it
possible to obtain the static moment capacity [8]. Finally,
a data acquisition system was used to record the applied
2.4 Results
The experimental results obtained in this study, ad-
dressed in the following sections, consist of (i) photos
showing the collapse modes associated with the failure
moments given in Tabs. 1 and 2 (Section 2.4.1) and (ii)
equilibrium paths relating the applied moments to the

Steel Construction 16 (2023), No. 271


A. Dias Martins, D. Camotim, P. Borges Dinis, M.-T. Chen, B. Young: Local-distortional interaction in cold-formed steel lipped channel beams: Experimental investigation
Fig. 3 a) Schematic representation and b) overall view of the various devices used to perform beam tests
displacements or curvatures they cause (Section 2.4.2).
Due to space limitations, only a representative fraction
of the results obtained is presented and briefly discussed
here – more complete and detailed accounts can be
found in [1, 2].
2.4.1 Collapse modes and failure moments
Figs. 4a–h show the collapse modes (deformed configura-
tions at the brink of failure), under uniform bending, of
specimens LC3-a, 8R-b, 11-a, 12-b, 13-b, 14R-b, 17-b and
18-b (‘R’ stands for repeated test – see Section 2.1). In
contrast, Figs. 5a1–b4 show the collapse modes of speci-
mens LC6-a and LC8-b under non-uniform bending – Ψ
values of 0.50, 0.625, 0.75 and 0.875. The failure mo-
ments (MExp) of the 40 beams under uniform bending are
given in Tab. 1, whereas Tab. 2 contains the maximum
failure moments (MExp.max) of the 32 beams under non-
uniform bending. As planned and clearly evidenced by
the photos, all the tested beams collapsed in L–D interac-
tive modes, exhibiting very perceptible local and distor-
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tional deformations (‘true L–D interaction’) – as planned,
no trace of shear buckling or web-crippling deformations
was observed in the beam outer spans or vicinity of re-
gions with high stress concentrations. Indeed, these two
types of deformations are unmistakably visible in all the
specimens, regardless of the bending moment diagram
(Ψ = 0.50, 0.625, 0.75, 0.875, 1.0) – particularly the distor-
tional deformations, which were shown to be clearly
dominant by Generalised Beam Theory (GBT) non-linear
analyses performed in [5]. Note that all the collapse
modes of the specimens under non-uniform bending ex-
hibit two distortional half waves (L+D(2)), while their
uniform bending counterparts always exhibit one distor-
tional half wave, involving either outward (L+D+) or in-
ward (L+D–) top flange-lip motions. Tab. 1 includes this
information and it can be observed that the L+D– configu-
ration prevails, thus providing clear experimental confir-
mation for the SFE findings reported in [9], namely that
imperfect beams prone to L–D interaction are more likely
to exhibit L+D– than L+D+ configurations at advanced
post-buckling stages.
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A. Dias Martins, D. Camotim, P. Borges Dinis, M.-T. Chen, B. Young: Local-distortional interaction in cold-formed steel lipped channel beams: Experimental investigation

ARTICLE
Fig. 4 Collapse modes of specimens a) LC3-a, b) LC8R-b, c) LC11-a, d) LC12-b, e) LC13-b, f) LC14R-b, g) LC17-b and h) LC18-b, under uniform bending (ψ = 1.0)

Fig. 5 Collapse modes of specimens a) LC6-a and b) LC8-b, for ψ equal to 1) 0.50, 2) 0.625, 3) 0.75 and 4) 0.875

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A. Dias Martins, D. Camotim, P. Borges Dinis, M.-T. Chen, B. Young: Local-distortional interaction in cold-formed steel lipped channel beams: Experimental investigation

2.4.2 Equilibrium paths
Figs. 6a–c and 7a–b show the equilibrium paths of several
specimens tested under uniform and non-uniform bend-
ing, respectively. In the first case, the paths concern
specimens LC6-a, 6-b, 7-a, 7-b, 8-a, 8-b, 8R-a, 8R-b, 9-a and
9-b, and relate the applied moment M, obtained by multi-
plying the load cell reading (P) by L/16, with either (i) the
curvature (Fig. 6a), constant in the specimen central span
and determined by means of the expression
2y
 κ=
 L
2 specimens under Ψ = 0.50 non-uniform bending
2
 4  + y
where y = d3–(d1+d2)/2 or y = d4–(d1+d2)/2 and d1, d2, d3
and d4 are the LVDTs 1–4 readings, respectively, (ii) the
vertical displacement at mid-span (Fig. 6b), read by
LVDTs 3 (beam ‘a’) or 4 (beam ‘b’) and (iii) the distor-
tional displacement of the top flange-lip corner at
­mid-span (Fig. 6c), obtained as the difference between the
readings of LVDTs 5 and 3 (beam ‘a’) or 6 and 4 (beam
‘b’). As for Figs. 7a–b, they relate the average applied mo-
ment (Mm) with two displacements of the cross-section
where it occurs: (i) bottom web-flange corner vertical dis-
placement (Fig. 7a) and (ii) top flange-lip corner distor-
tional displacement (Fig. 7b). From the observation of
these figures, the following is concluded.
(i) All the equilibrium paths depicted are qualitatively
similar. Indeed, regardless of the Ψ value, they exhi-
bit (i1) an initial virtually linear branch, until the ap-
plied moment reaches McrL, followed by (i2), a non-
linear branch, until the peak applied moment is
reached, and (i3) a subsequent descending branch,
also exhibiting a pronounced non-linearity. Note that
McrL < McrD in all the beams.
(ii) The post-collapse deformed configurations of the
(1)
exhibit distortional plastic hinges in the region
close to the maximum applied moment (see [2]). As
the acting bending moment diagram becomes ‘less
non-uniform’ (i.e., Ψ increases from 0.50 to 1.0),
the locations of these plastic hinges move toward
the mid-span. Moreover, the number of distortio-
nal half waves changes from 2 (Ψ < 1.0) to
1 (Ψ = 1.0).
(iii) There exist significant differences between the beha-
viours of the twin specimens, clearly visible in the
equilibrium paths shown in Figs. 6c and 7b, which
stem from the influence of the initial geometrical im-
perfections. Indeed, the behaviours of the specimen
pairs may differ considerably (e.g., specimens LC8 in

Fig. 6 Experimental equilibrium paths M versus the a) curvature and mid-span, b) vertical and c) distortional displacements, concerning specimens
LC6-7-8-8R-9 under ψ = 1.0

Fig. 7 Experimental equilibrium paths M versus the a) vertical and b) distortional displacements at the cross-section acted by the average bending moment,
concerning specimen LC4 under ψ = 0.50, 0.625, 0.75 and 0.875

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A. Dias Martins, D. Camotim, P. Borges Dinis, M.-T. Chen, B. Young: Local-distortional interaction in cold-formed steel lipped channel beams: Experimental investigation

ARTICLE
Fig. 8 Plots a) MExp.max /MnL versus lL, b) MExp.max/MnD versus lD, c) MExp.max/MnD* versus lD, d) MExp.max/MnLD versus lL and e) MExp.max/MnDL versus lL con-
cerning all the beam specimens tested (ψ = 0.50, 0.625, 0.75, 0.875)

Fig. 6 and all specimens in Fig. 7, due to the fact that

the plastic hinges develop at distinct regions), which
(
(2) )
MnL = 1 − 0.15λL−0.8 λL−0.8 My

may even alter the displacement direction (e.g., spe- M = (1 − 0.22λ

(3) nD )λ M −1.0
D
−1.0
D y
cimens LC8 in Fig. 6c). On the other hand, the only
twin beams with practically identical equilibrium M = (1 − 0.23λ
(4) nD* )λ M −1.55
D
−1.45
D y
paths are the LC5 ones under uniform bending (see
[1]) – given the different (and independent) initial M = (1 − 0.15λ
(5) nLD )λ M −0.8
LD
−0.8
LD nD*
geometrical imperfections, this may be viewed as
‘singular behaviour’. M = (1 − 0.23λ
(6) nDL )λ M −1.55
DL
−1.45
DL nL
(iv) The post-collapse-deformed configurations (not
shown here) exhibit ‘distortional plastic hinges’ quite where lL=(My/McrL)0.5, lD=(My/McrD)0.5, lLD=(MnD*/
similar to those obtained in the SFE numerical simu- McrL)0.5 and lDL=(MnL/McrD)0.5.
lations reported in [4, 9].
After determining accurately McrL.max, McrD.max and the
corresponding slenderness values (lL.max and lD.max), by
3 Direct Strength Method Design means of the SFE models mentioned in Section 2.1 and
considering the measured mid-line dimensions (see
This section addresses the performance of the available Tabs. 1 and 2) and obtained steel material properties (see
DSM-based design curves in estimating the experimental Fig. 2), the merits of the above five strength curves were
failure moments obtained in this work, associated with assessed – all the values involved are also included in
beam L–D interactive failures under uniform (Ψ = 1.0) Tabs. 1 and 2, and note that, for Ψ = 1, MExp.max = MExp,
and non-uniform (Ψ = 0.50, 0.625, 0.75, 0.875) bending. McrL = McrL.max and McrD = McrD.max. Figs. 8a–e plot,
In particular, attention is paid to the estimates provided versus the corresponding slenderness values, the
­
by the (i) codified local strength curve (MnL), (ii) codified experimental-to-predicted failure moment ratios con­
­
and recently proposed [10] distortional strength curves cerning the five DSM strength curves given by Eqs. (2)–
(MnD and MnD*) and (iii) strength curves developed spe- (6): (i) MExp.max/MnL versus λL (L – Fig. 8a), (ii)
cifically to handle beam L–D interactive failure [4] (MnLD MExp.max/MnD versus λD and MExp.max/MnD* versus λD
and MnDL) – as all the tested specimens are slender (lL (D – Figs. 8b-c) and (iii) MExp.max/MnLD versus λL and
and lLD > 0.776, lD and lDL > 0.673), the above strength MExp.max/MnDL versus λL (L–D – Figs. 8d–e). Note that
curves are given by the expressions these plots include failure moment ratios associated with

Steel Construction 16 (2023), No. 275


A. Dias Martins, D. Camotim, P. Borges Dinis, M.-T. Chen, B. Young: Local-distortional interaction in cold-formed steel lipped channel beams: Experimental investigation
all the bending moment diagrams considered in this work
(Ψ = 0.50, 0.625, 0.75, 0.875, 1.0). The observation of the
results presented in these figures, as well as in Tab. 1 and
2, leads to the following remarks.
(i) As expected, the Ψ value influences visibly the failure
moment: for identical wall width ratios (bw/bf and
bf/bl) and distortional half-wave numbers (nD), the
experimental failure moment increases as Ψ decrea-
ses.
(ii) In beams with identical bf/bl and nD values and acted
by the same bending moment diagram, it was ex­
perimentally observed that the ratio bw/bf influences
considerably the failure moment – it increases as this
ratio grows. For instance, MExp.max increases along
the beam specimen sequences LC4-0.5/LC6-0.5/­
LC8-0.5/LC12-0.5 (745-864-991-1106 kNcm) or LC4-
0.75/LC6-0.75/LC8-0.75/LC12-0.75 (728-826-907-
1057 kNcm). This feature, also reported for beams
failing in pure distortional modes [10], explains why
beams acted by a given bending moment diagram (Ψ
value) may have a failure moment higher than those
of beams acted by ‘less-uniform’ bending moment dia-
grams (lower Ψ values). This surprising (counter-intui-
tive) fact causes an unexpected ‘vertical dispersion’ of
the MExp.max values of beams sharing the same slen-
derness – for example, the MExp.max value of beam
LC6-0.75 is about 10 % higher than that of beam
LC4‑0.50 (826 vs. 745kNcm).
(iii) The failure moment estimates provided by the cur-
rently codified DSM design curves (MnL and MnD)
are very unsafe for the beams undergoing L–D inter-
action, regardless of the Ψ value, a fact that attests/
quantifies the pronounced strength erosion stem-
ming from this coupling phenomenon. Although the
failure moment estimates MnD* are visibly less unsafe
than their MnD counterparts (compare Figs. 8b and
8c – the MExp.max/MnD* ratios are always above the
MExp.max/MnD ones), they also cannot adequately
capture the failure moment erosion stemming from
L–D interaction.
(iv) The MnLD and MnDL failure load estimates clearly
outperform the remaining ones, as attested by
looking at Figs. 8d–e; indeed, these estimates are
­ amount of ‘vertical dispersion’, due to the combined
always safe and have averages equal to 1.22
­ influence of the Ψ, bw/bf, bf /bl and nD values on the
(MExp.max/MnLD) and 1.17 (MExp.max/MnDL). As
noted earlier, the vertical dispersion observed in
Figs. 8d–e stems from the combined influence of the
Ψ, bw/bf and bf/bl values (the last one for Ψ = 1.0
only), which is not appropriately taken into account
in any of the five strength curves considered in this
work – this influence is only felt through the McrL
and McrD values (used to calculate the local or distor-
tional slenderness), which is clearly not sufficient.
(v) It has been unequivocally shown that the occurrence
of L–D interaction influences considerably the beha-
viour and collapse of lipped channel beams acted by
several bending moment diagrams; thus, it is indis-
pensable to take this (severe) interaction into ac-
count when designing these CFS members. On the
76 Steel Construction 16 (2023), No. 2
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other hand, it was also shown that a rational and ef-
ficient DSM-based design approach (or any alternati-
ve one – e.g., the EC3 effective width and reduced
thickness approach) must include the combined in-
fluence of the (v1) bending moment diagram shape
(Ψ value), (v2) wall width ratios (bw/bf and bf/bl) and
(v3) length (via nD); of course, it is also necessary to
check whether the conclusion drawn from this work
remains valid for beams with other cross-section
shapes and/or acted by other bending moment dia-
grams (e.g., those caused by transverse loads).
4 Conclusions
This article presented an experimental investigation on
L–D interaction in cold-formed high-strength steel lipped
channel beams and under uniform (20 tests) or non-uni-
form (16 tests) bending about the major axis. Out of the
various findings reported, the following ones deserve a
special mention.
(i) The collapse modes of all the specimens tested com-
bine local and distortional deformations (the latter
are always more pronounced), thus providing experi-
mental evidence of L–D interaction, which occurs
regardless of the McrD/McrL (1.09 to 1.46) and Ψ (0.5,
0.625, 0.75, 0.875, 1.0) values.
(ii) It was shown experimentally that the wall width rati-
os bw/bf and bf/bl visibly influence the beam failure
moment (for constant McrD/McrL and Ψ values).
(iii) As expected, Ψ visibly influences the beam failure
moment (for constant bw/bf and bf/bl).
(iv) Concerning the beam DSM-based design, it was
shown that, regardless of the Ψ value, the experimen-
tal failure moment estimates provided by the codified
local and distortional design curves were always very
unsafe, whereas those provided by the strength cur-
ves specifically developed to handle L–D interaction
(not yet codified) were always safe and reasonably
accurate.
(v) Finally, it was also found that the experimental-to-
predicted failure moment ratios exhibited a certain
beam failure moments, which are not adequately
captured by any of the DSM-based strength curves
considered in this work (or by any other design rules,
such as those based on effective width and/or redu-
ced thickness concepts).
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the company M Metal Pte Ltd (Singa-
pore) for providing the tested cold-formed steel speci-
mens. Moreover, the second and third authors acknow­
ledge the financial support of ‘Fundação para a Ciência
e a Tecnologia’ (FCT – Portugal), through project
UIDB/04625/2020 (funding the research unit CERIS).
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A. Dias Martins, D. Camotim, P. Borges Dinis, M.-T. Chen, B. Young: Local-distortional interaction in cold-formed steel lipped channel beams: Experimental investigation

ARTICLE
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Authors
Dr. André Dias Martins Prof. Ben Young
andrerdmartins@tecnico.ulisboa.pt ben.young@polyu.edu.hk
IDMEC, Instituto Superior Técnico Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Universidade de Lisboa The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Av. Rovisco Pais 1 Hong Kong, China
1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal

Prof. Dinar Camotim (corresponding author)

dcamotim@civil.ist.utl.pt
CERIS, DECivil, Instituto Superior Técnico
Universidade de Lisboa
Av. Rovisco Pais 1
1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal

Prof. Pedro Borges Dinis

dinis@civil.ist.utl.pt
CERIS, DECivil, Instituto Superior Técnico
Universidade de Lisboa
Av. Rovisco Pais 1
1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
How to Cite this Paper
Prof. Man-Tai Chen
Martins, A. D.; Camotim, D.; Dinis, P. B.; Chen, M.-T.; Young, B.
mantai.chen@sjtu.edu.cn
(2023) Local-distortional interaction in cold-formed steel lipped chan-
State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering and Shanghai Key Laboratory
nel beams: Experimental investigation. Steel Construction 16, No. 2,
for Digital Maintenance of Buildings and Infrastructure, Department of Civil
pp. 68–77. https://doi.org/10.1002/stco.202200018
Engineering
Shanghai Jiao Tong University This paper has been peer reviewed. Submitted: 3. July 2022; accepted:
Shanghai 200240, China 15. August 2022.

Steel Construction 16 (2023), No. 277