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International Specialty Conference on Cold- (2014) - 22nd International Specialty

Formed Steel Structures Conference on Cold-Formed Steel Structures

Nov 5th, 12:00 AM - 12:00 AM

The Behaviour of Cold-Formed C-Sections with Square Holes in

Shear
Cao Hung Pham

Yu Han Chin

Peter Boutros

Gregory J. Hancock

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Recommended Citation
Pham, Cao Hung; Chin, Yu Han; Boutros, Peter; and Hancock, Gregory J., "The Behaviour of Cold-Formed
C-Sections with Square Holes in Shear" (2014). International Specialty Conference on Cold-Formed Steel
Structures. 6.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/isccss/22iccfss/session03/6

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 Twenty-Second International Specialty Conference on Cold-Formed Steel Structures
St. Louis, Missouri, USA, November 5 & 6, 2014

The Behaviour of Cold-Formed C-Sections

with Square Holes in Shear

Cao Hung Pham1, Yu Han Chin2, Peter Boutros2 and Gregory J Hancock3

Abstract

Cold-formed structural C-section members may be subjected to axial force,

bending and shear or combinations of either two or all of these actions. Design
methods for these sections are normally specified in the Australian/New Zealand
Standard for Cold-Formed Steel Structures (AS/NZS 4600:2005) or the North
American Specification for Cold-Formed Steel Structural Members (2012). Both
Effective Width Methods (EWM) and the newly developed Direct Strength
Method (DSM) can be used for the design. For shear, the NAS S100 2012
Edition has recently included DSM design rules just for the plain sections only.
To date, no rules are presented in this specification for DSM in shear for
sections with holes. This paper presents a testing program performed at the
University of Sydney to determine the ultimate strength of high strength cold-
formed C-sections with square web cut-outs. Tests were conducted on typical
lipped channel sections with central square holes of varying sizes. Three
different sizes of the square holes were chosen for testing. Numerical
simulations using the Finite Element Method (FEM) were also performed. The
simulations are compared with and calibrated against tests. The accurate results
from FEM allowed extension of the test data by varying the hole sizes. The
results of both the experimental tests and FEM were used and plotted on the
DSM shear design curves. As required by the DSM method, the shear buckling
load Vcr for the whole channel sections with holes was computed using the
Spline Finite Strip Method. The proposals for an extension to the DSM in shear
for channel sections with square holes are given in the paper.

1
ARC Australian Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Civil Engineering, The Univ.
of Sydney, Sydney NSW 2006, Australia.
2
Undergraduate Honours Students, School of Civil Engineering, The Univ. of
Sydney, Sydney NSW 2006, Australia.
3
Emeritus Professor and Professorial Research Fellow, School of Civil
Engineering, The Univ. of Sydney, Sydney NSW 2006, Australia.

311
 312

INTRODUCTION

Cold-formed steel members such as beams and columns are commonly

manufactured with perforations to allow access for building services such as
plumbing, electrical and heating systems in the walls and ceilings of the
buildings. The presence of holes in the members will cause changes in the stress
distribution and there will be therefore be a change in the buckling characteristic
and ultimate strength capacity. Research findings in the 1990s by Shan,
LaBoube and Yu (1994, 1996), Schuster, Rogers and Celli (1995) and Eiler
(1997) on C-sections were performed to investigate the effect of web
perforations on the reduction of shear strength of C-sections. In these studies,
the test programs were conducted based on three hole geometries (rectangular
hole with corner fillets, circular hole, and diamond-shaped hole). Based on the
results of these findings, a supplement was added to the 1996 Edition of the
AISI Specification in 1999 (AISI, 1999) and is retained in the most recent North
American Specification (NAS S100-2012). The design methodology was to use
the reduction factor qs to multiply with the shear strength of the sections without
holes calculated according to Section C3.2.1 of the NAS S100-2012. Recent
work by Keerthan and Mahendran (2014) presented both experimental and
numerical investigations on lipped channel beams with circular holes to
determine their shear strengths. They followed the same methodology by using
reduction factors and proposed improved shear design rules for lipped channel
beams with circular holes.

The recent development of the Direct Strength Method (DSM) of design of cold-
formed sections in pure shear (Pham and Hancock, 2012a) has been extended in
the North American Specification for Cold-Formed Steel Structural Members
(NAS S100-2012). Proposed DSM design rules for sections with and without
Tension Field Action (TFA) and without holes were calibrated against a series
of predominantly shear tests of both plain C- and SupaCee sections (Pham and
Hancock, 2010a, 2012a) performed at the University of Sydney. Two features
researched are the effect of full-section shear buckling (as opposed to web-only
shear buckling), and tension field action. The elastic buckling load of the full-
section in shear is required to be computed. Hancock and Pham (2011, 2012)
have employed the complex Semi-Analytical Finite Strip Method (SAFSM) of
Plank and Wittrick (1974) to compute the signature curves for channel sections
in pure shear. The method assumes the ends of the half-wavelength under
consideration are free to distort and the buckle is part of a very long length
without restraint from end conditions. Further extended studies of this theory on
complex sections with rectangular and triangular intermediate stiffeners in the
web have been performed by Pham, Pham and Hancock (2012a, b). In practice,
sections may be restrained at their ends by transverse stiffeners leading to the
change in shear buckling modes and the increase of the buckling loads by the
 313

end effects. To provide solutions, Pham and Hancock (2009, 2012b) have used
the Spline Finite Strip Method (SFSM) developed for shear elastic buckling by
Lau and Hancock (1986). Another more efficient alternative in computation is
the new theory of the Semi-Analytical Finite Strip Method (SAFSM) using
multiple series terms (Hancock and Pham, 2013) recently developed to study the
elastic buckling of channel sections with simply supported ends in shear.

Recently, the Direct Strength Method (DSM) of design of cold-formed sections

with holes in compression and/or bending has been extended by considerable
research by Moen and Schafer (2011). The elastic buckling axial loads and
bending moments including the influence of holes were computed using the
finite strip approximate method (Moen and Schafer, 2009a, b). In recent work
based on Isoparametric Spline Finite Strip Method (ISFSM), Yao and
Rasmussen (2011a, b) presented the analytical developments and numerical
investigations of the application of the ISFSM to the material inelastic and
geometric nonlinear analysis of perforated thin-walled steel structures. They also
investigated inelastic local buckling behaviour of perforated plates and sections
under compression (Yao and Rasmussen, 2012). The DSM rules with holes for
bending and compression have been incorporated in the latest North American
Specification (NAS S100-2012). Also in NAS S100-2012, although the DSM
rules for shear have been extended, they are limited to sections without holes. In
order to extend the DSM rules for shear with holes, an experimental program
was recently performed at the University of Sydney. The tests were conducted
on typical lipped channel sections with central square holes of varying sizes.
Three sizes of square holes of 40 mm, 80 mm and 120 mm were chosen. For
each hole size, the tests were repeated twice to ensure the accuracy of the
results. Besides, tests on plain C-sections were also conducted as a base
reference. Numerical simulations using the Finite Element Method (FEM)
ABAQUS package were also performed. The simulations are compared with
and calibrated against tests in this paper. The accurate results from the FEM
allowed extension of the test data by varying the hole sizes. As required in the
DSM methodology, the elastic buckling loads of the full section with square
holes in shear were computed using the Spline Finite Strip Method (SFSM). The
test and FEM results are compared with the current DSM design rules for shear.
Recommendations on the extension of the DSM rules for shear are given in the
paper for channel sections with square holes.

ELASTIC BUCKLING ANALYSIS OF CHANNEL SECTIONS WITH

SQUARE HOLES IN SHEAR

The buckling analysis based on a Spline Finite Strip Analysis (Lau and
Hancock, 1986) was used to determine the elastic shear buckling loads of the
 314

full channel sections with square holes. In Pham and Hancock (2009, 2012b)
analysis, for plain C- sections, the shear stresses were uniformly applied in each
strip to assemble the stability matrix of each strip then the system stability
matrix. Although the shear flow distribution is not in equilibrium longitudinally
as this can only be achieved by the way of a moment gradient in the member, it
has been used in Pham and Hancock (2009, 2012b) to isolate the shear from the
bending for the purpose of identifying pure shear buckling loads and modes. For
the channel members with square holes studied in this paper, due to the presence
of the holes, the shear stress distribution is not uniformly distributed especially
around the holes. The pre-buckling analysis was performed to compute stresses
in the strips prior to conducting buckling analysis using these stresses. Three
cases of stress distribution are investigated as shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 1. Stress distribution in channel sections with square holes

12

10
Shear Buckling Coefficient (kv)

Case A
8 Case B
Case C
6

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
Hole Size a (mm)

Figure 2. Relation between hole size (a) and shear buckling coefficient (kv)
 315

In Case A, uniform shear stress is applied throughout the web panel edges (see
Fig. 1a). In Cases B and C (see Figs. 1b and 1c), a shear flow distribution
resulting from a shear force parallel with the web is applied at two end sections
as occurs in practice. In order to maintain equilibrium, longitudinal stresses
caused by a bending moment (M=V.s, where s is shear span) are applied. For
Case B, the moment is applied at one end section and, for Case C, a pair of
bending moments with half value (M/2) is applied at both end sections to
balance with the longitudinal shear stresses. Fig. 2 shows the relationship
between the hole sizes (a) of the central square hole and the shear buckling
coefficients (kv) determined from the equation:

 
kv   cr .12 1  2 d12 /  2 Etw2 (1)

where  cr is the shear buckling load of the section divided by the area of the
web, d1 is the web depth, tw is the web thickness, E is the Young’s modulus
and  is the Poisson’s ratio.

The values of kv for the three cases are comparable where that of Case A has the
highest value as there is no longitudinal stress in the flanges and lips. The kv in
Case B is the smallest due to the effect of the bending moment at only one end
while that of Case C lies in between as the bending moment is split into a pair
acting at two end sections. In this paper, the values of kv in Case B are used for
analysis as Case B represents the experimental program.

EXPERIMENTS ON CHANNEL SECTIONS WITH SQUARE HOLES IN

SHEAR

Test Rig Design

The experimental program (Chin and Boutros, 2013) comprised a total of eight
tests conducted in the J. W. Roderick Laboratory for Materials and Structures at
the University of Sydney. All tests were performed in the 2000 kN capacity
DARTEC testing machine, using a servo-controlled hydraulic ram. A diagram of
the test set-up configuration is shown in Fig. 3. This is the same rig as used by
Pham and Hancock (2010a, 2012a).

At the loading point at mid-span, the load from the DARTEC loading ram,
which moved downwards at a constant stroke rate of 2 mm/min during testing,
was applied on the steel bearing plate of 20 mm thickness via a half round. The
load was subsequently transferred to two stiffened channel sections
 316

250x90x6CC (Cold-formed Channel) which were connected to the test beam

specimens by two vertical rows of M12 high tensile bolts. The distance between
these two vertical rows of bolts is 50 mm. At the supports, the two test
specimens were bolted through the webs by vertical rows of M12 high tensile
bolts. These rows of bolts were connected through the webs of two stiffened
channel sections 250x90x6CC. The load was subsequently transferred to steel
load transfer plates of 20 mm thickness bolted through the flanges of the
stiffened channel sections 250x90x6CC. These load bearing plates eventually
rested on the half rounds of the DARTEC supports to simulate a set of simple
supports. At each bolt, a nut was located between the test beam specimen and
CC (Cold-formed Channel) section so that the specimen did not attach directly
on the CC thus minimizing restraint to the web. Five bolts were used at each
support and ten bolts at the loading point.

Figure 3. Predominantly shear test configuration

 317

Two LVDTs (Linear Variable Displacement Transducers) were utilized as

shown in Fig. 3 to measure vertical displacements at loading points. Four other
LVDTs were also utilized to measure lateral displacements of the webs adjacent
to the holes. Further, the test beam specimens were also connected by four
25x25x5EA (Equal Angle) steel straps on each top and bottom flange adjacent
to the loading point and supports as shown in Fig. 3. Self-tapping screws were
used to attach these straps to the test beam specimens. The objective of these
straps was to prevent section distortion at the loading point and supports. The
use of stiffened channel sections 250x90x6CC was introduced to prevent a
bearing failure at the loading point and supports which could be caused by using
conventional bearing plates.

Specimen Nomenclature, Dimensions and Coupons

Based on a commercially available plain C-lipped channel section (C20015) as a

preferred section, three types of square hole were cut out using water jet cutting
machine to ensure accuracy as shown in Fig. 4. The variable sizes of the square
holes are 40 mm, 80 mm and 120 mm (see Fig. 5). For each hole size, the tests
were repeated twice to ensure the accuracy of the results. In each test, two
identical specimens were tested in pairs with top flanges facing inwards and
with a gap between them to ensure that the inside assembly was possible. There
were therefore a total of eight tests for this series including those of the preferred
plain C-section.

Figure 4. Hole cut-out by water jet cutting machine

Figure 5. Lipped channel sections with square holes

 318

The test specimens were labelled to express type of channel section, hole shape
and hole sizes. The label for a plain C- Section with a square hole of 40 mm
“C20015-S40x40” (see Fig. 5a) is defined as:

(i) “C200” expresses plain C- Section with the depth of 200 mm,
(ii) The final “15” is the actual thickness times 10 in mm.
(iii) “S” indicates “Square” shape hole.
(iv) “40x40” is the size of 40 mm of square holes (alternatively “80x80”
and “120x120”).

The average measured dimensions are given in Fig. 6 and Table 1. In this table, t
is the thickness of the section, D is the overall depth, B and L are the average
overall flange widths and lip sizes respectively.

Figure 6. Cross section geometry

t D B L
Section
mm mm mm mm
C20015-1 1.5 202.7 77.40 15.41
C20015-2 1.5 202.6 77.57 15.24
C20015-S40x40-1 1.5 202.4 77.12 15.38
C20015-S40x40-2 1.5 202.9 77.23 15.24
C20015-S80x80-1 1.5 203.3 76.85 15.21
C20015-S80x80-2 1.5 203.0 77.01 14.99
C20015-S120x120-1 1.5 202.6 77.16 15.13
C20015-S120x120-2 1.5 202.7 77.55 15.21
Table 1: Measured specimen dimension

To determine the mechanical properties of the high strength steel material, eight
coupon specimens were tested in the J.W. Roderick Laboratory for Materials
and Structures at the University of Sydney. Four coupons were taken
longitudinally from the web flat of channel section member. Similarly, two
 319

coupons were taken from the compression and tension flanges respectively. The
tensile coupon dimensions conformed to the Australian Standard AS 1391
(Standards Australia 1991) for the tensile testing of metals using 12.5 mm wide
coupons with gauge length 40 mm. All coupon tests were performed using the
300 kN capacity Sintech/MTS 65/G testing machine operated in a displacement
control mode. The mean yield stress fy of 513.73 MPa was obtained by using the
0.2 % nominal proof stress. The average Young’s modulus of elasticity was
calculated according to the tensile coupon stress-strain curves to be 202,328
MPa. The details of coupon tests are given in Chin and Boutros (2013).

NUMERICAL SIMULATION AND VALIDATION OF TEST RESULTS

Finite Element Modeling of Test Rig and Channels with Square Holes

The Finite Element Method (FEM) can be used to undertake a geometrically and
materially nonlinear inelastic analysis (GMNIA) of cold-formed structures.
Pham and Hancock (2010b, c) presented the modelling and analysis of the
experimental specimens of a shear, and combined bending and shear test series
on cold-formed C-Sections using the FEM program ABAQUS
(ABAQUS/Standard Version 6.8-2, 2008). Experimental data from Pham and
Hancock (2010a, 2012a) was utilized to evaluate the performance of the FE
model. The ABAQUS results were generally in good agreement with
experimental values especially the ultimate loads and modes of failure.

A detailed finite element model based on that of Pham and Hancock (2010b, c)
was developed to study the structural behaviour and validate the test results of
channel sections with square holes in shear. The test rig was generated in
ABAQUS using 3D-deformable solid elements and was assigned as normal steel
properties. The channel sections with square holes were modelled by using the
4-node shell elements with reduced integration, type S4R. Quadrilateral element
mesh was used for both test rig and channel sections. While the coarse mesh size
of 20 mm was used for the test rig, the finer 10 mm element mesh was selected
for the channel sections. These mesh sizes were chosen and proved accurate in
Pham and Hancock (2010b, c). For modelling of boundary conditions, Fig. 7
shows the test rig configuration and FEM test model. To simulate a set of simple
supports, the “CONN3D2” connector elements were used to connect the bearing
plates to the centre of the half round. Both ends of the connector elements are
hinges and the length of the shortest connector member is the radius of half. For
bolt simulation, the “tie” constraints were used to model contacts between the
specimens and rigs where the channels were the slave surfaces and the rigs were
the master surfaces.
 320

Figure 7. Test rig and ABAQUS model

Initial Geometrical Imperfection

In a nonlinear analysis, imperfections are usually introduced by perturbations in

the geometry. Initial geometrical imperfections are added onto the “perfect”
model to create out-of-plane deformations of the plate elements. In the
ABAQUS model, there are three methods to define the geometric imperfections.
Firstly, the geometric imperfections can be defined by the linear superposition of
buckling eigenmodes. Secondly, specifying the node number and imperfection
values directly on the data lines gives a method of direct entry. The final method
is defined by the displacements from an initial *STATIC analysis, which may
consist of the application of a “dead” load.

In this study, the first method as used in Pham and Hancock (2010b, c) is also
chosen where scaled buckling modes are separately superimposed on the initial
geometry. An initial analysis is carried out on a perfect mesh using the elastic
buckling analysis to generate the possible buckling modes and nodal
displacements of these modes. The imperfections are introduced to the perfect
mesh by means of linearly superimposing the elastic buckling modes onto the
mesh. The lowest buckling modes are usually the critical modes and these are
used to generate the imperfections. The imperfection magnitudes were based on
two scaling factors of 0.15t and 0.64t where t is the thickness of section. These
two factors were proposed by Camotim and Silvestre (2004) and Schafer and
Peköz (1998) respectively.

FE Model Validation of Test Results

Table 2 summaries the results of the eight shear tests for channel sections with
square holes. Also included in Table 2 are the FEM predictions of the maximum
loads for 0.15t imperfection scaling and 0.64t imperfection scaling where t is the
thickness of channel sections. Apart from validated sections with tests, the FEM
results of three additional sections with square hole sizes of 20 mm, 60 mm and
100 mm are also added in the table to extend the range of data.
 321

Test-1 Load Test-2 Load FEM Load FEM Load

Section VT VT Imp=0.15t Imp=0.64t
(kN) (kN) (kN) (kN)
C20015 53.44 49.81 53.72 52.20
C20015-S20x20 - - 51.53 51.04
C20015-S40x40 47.13 45.93 46.97 46.37
C20015-S60x60 - - 39.08 38.62
C20015-S80x80 29.12 30.90 31.49 30.83
C20015-S100x100 - - 24.30 23.08
C20015-S120x120 15.06 14.48 15.42 15.23
Table 2: Test and ABAQUS-FEM results

By comparison between the ABAQUS ultimate loads with different

imperfection scaling magnitudes, the FEM results were generally in good
agreement with the experimental values. The differences in the ultimate load
results are not significant. This fact has been proven in the studies of Pham and
Hancock (2010b) where the FE models are not particularly sensitive to the
magnitudes of the initial geometric imperfections under combined bending and
shear loading.

210

180

150
Load (kN)

120

90

60 C20015-S40x40-1
C20015-S40x40-2
30 C20015-S40x40-FEM

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Vertical Displacement (mm)

Figure 8: Load and vertical displacement-C20015-S40x40

Fig. 8 shows the load–displacement curves of tests and FEM results (for 0.15t
imperfection scaling) for the C20015-S40x40. When the load increases up to 90
kN, the larger vertical displacements of the tests compared with that of the FE
model are recorded as a result of the slip between the channels and the test rig
 322

where the diameter of the holes is normally 2 mm larger than that of the bolts
due to the clearance for easy installation. In the ABAQUS mode, there is no
such slip as the “tie” constraints were used to model the contacts between the
SWC sections and the rig at the location of the bolts. As the load increases from
90 kN to the peak loads, the load-displacement curves of the test and FE model
are almost similar. After the peak load, the load-displacement curves of the tests
are also similar to that of FEM model down to approximately 150 kN. It is
interesting to note that when the loads decrease lower than 150 kN, both tests
appear to drop rapidly as compared with that of FEM model. From this point, in
the tests, crack propagations were observed to begin at the corners under tensile
stresses of the square holes, whereas, in the FEM model, the model for fracture
analysis was not included to capture the crack propagations. Fig. 9 shows typical
shear failure modes between test and FEM model of the C20015-S40x40-2
channel sections.

Figure 9. Failure mode shapes of the test and ABAQUS mode-C20015-S40x40

DIRECT STRENGTH METHOD (DSM) OF DESIGN FOR COLD-

FORMED SECTIONS

DSM Design Rules for Pure Shear

DSM design rules in shear without Tension Field Action
The nominal shear strength (Vn) of beams without holes in the web and without
web stiffeners is determined from Appendix 1, Section 1.2.2.2.1 of NAS-2012
(AISI, 2012) as follows:
For v  0.815 : Vn  V y (2)
For 0.815 v  1.227 : V n  0 .815 V cr V y (3)
For v  1.227 : Vn  Vcr (4)
V y  0.6 Aw Fy (5)
2
kv EAw
Vcr 
121  d / t
(6)
2
1 w 2
 323

where V y is the yield load of web based on an average shear yield stress of
0.6Fy;
Vcr is the elastic shear buckling force of the whole section derived by
integration of the shear stress distribution at buckling over the
whole section; v  V y / Vcr ;
kv is the shear buckling coefficient of the whole section based on the
Spline Finite Strip Method (SFSM) (Pham and Hancock, 2009,
2012b) or the Semi-Analytical Finite Strip Method (SAFSM)
(Hancock and Pham, 2011, 2012) and Pham, Pham and Hancock,
2012a, b).
DSM design rules in shear with Tension Field Action
The nominal shear strength (Vn) of beams without holes in the web including
tension field action is determined from Appendix 1, Section 1.2.2.2.1 of NAS-
2012 (AISI, 2012) as follows:

 V 
0.4 

0.4

Vn  1  0.15 cr   Vcr  Vy (7)
  Vy   V y 
    

COMPARISON OF DIRECT STRENGTH METHOD (DSM) DESIGN

LOADS FOR SHEAR WITH PREDOMINANTLY SHEAR TESTS OF
CHANNEL SECTIONS WITH SQUARE HOLES

The test result points are plotted in Fig. 10 against both DSM design curves for
shear with Tension Field Action (TFA) (Eqs. 2-4) and without TFA (Eq. 7). The
TFA curve (Basler, 1961) and the elastic buckling curve (Vcr) are also
graphically reproduced in Fig. 10. The elastic shear buckling loads (Vcr)
including the holes are determined using the Spline Finite Strip Method (SFSM)
using Eq. 1 and Fig. 2. The yield loads (Vy) are based on the web of an average
shear yield stress of 0.6fy over the full section even for the sections with holes.

As can be seen in Fig. 10, the shear test points of the preferred plain C20015
channel sections lie close to the DSM shear curve with TFA. When the channels
are cut with a small square hole sizes of 40 mm (a/D = 0.20), both elastic shear
buckling loads (Vcr) and shear strengths (VT) reduce respectively. The test points
are shifted down and horizontally to the right but still lie close to the DSM shear
curve with TFA. As the hole sizes increase to 80 mm (a/D = 0.40), the effect of
the cut-out area in the web is now quite significant for the shear capacity of the
channel. This leads to a drop below the DSM shear curve with TFA for the
 324

C20015-S80x80 tests and FEM models as shown in Fig. 10. When the hole sizes
are up to 120 mm, large areas of the cut-out in the web as demonstrated in the
C20015-S120x120 tests reduce significantly the shear strengths of the channel.
Therefore, the DSM shear curve may be applicable for design of sections with
square holes up to certain sizes (60 mm - a/D = 0.30). For larger hole sizes, the
DSM shear curve without TFA should be utilised as the channels with large
reduced web area do not mobilise the Tension Field Action. Further research on
different section types, hole shapes and thicknesses is ongoing at the University
of Sydney.

1.2
Elastic Buckling Curve-Vcr
DSM Shear Curve-without TFA
C20015-Tests
1 C20015-S80x80-Tests
C20015-FEM
C20015-S40x40-FEM
C20015-S80x80-FEM
0.8 C20015-S120x120-FEM
Tension Field Action (TFA) Curve
DSM Shear Curve-with TFA
C20015-S40x40-Tests
C20015-S120x120-Tests
C20015-S20x20-FEM
CS0015-S60x60-FEM
C20015-S100x100-FEM

VT
0.6
Vy
0.4

0.2

0
0.6 0.9 1.2 1.5 1.8 2.1 2.4 2.7 3 3.3 3.6
Vy
v 
Vcr

Figure 10: Test data and FEM results vs DSM shear

CONCLUSIONS

A predominantly shear test program on commercially available lipped channel

sections C20015 with central square holes was carried out to extend the newly
developed DSM of design in shear. Eight tests were conducted based on four
types of channel sections where three different sizes of the square holes along
with the preferred plain channels were chosen for testing. For each type of
channel sections, the tests were repeated twice to ensure accuracy. The elastic
shear buckling loads (Vcr) including the holes are determined using the Spline
Finite Strip Method (SFSM). The test results were utilised to plot against the
new DSM shear curves. For channels with central square holes, the DSM shear
curve may be applicable for design of sections with square holes up to certain
 325

sizes (a/D = 0.30). For larger hole sizes, the DSM shear curve without TFA
should be utilised as the channels with large reduced web area do not mobilise
the TFA. Further research is ongoing at the University of Sydney.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Funding provided by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project Grant

DP110103948 has been used to perform this project.

REFERENCES

ABAQUS/Standard Version 6.8-2; Abaqus/CAE User’s Manual. 2008, Dassault

Systèmes Simulia Corp., Providence, RI, USA.
AISI. 1999. “Supplement No. 1 to the 1996 Edition of the Specification for the
Design of Cold-Formed Steel Structural Member” Washington, DC.
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