• Alsanat, Husam

Abstract

uring recent decades, the use of aluminium alloy members instead of steel members in building construction has substantially increased especially in the areas with high corrosion risks. However, these aluminium members are vulnerable to various failure modes including web crippling. To date, no research has been carried out on the web crippling behaviour of cold-formed aluminium lipped channel sections. Hence, an experimental study was conducted to assess the web crippling behaviour and capacity of unfastened aluminium lipped channel sections under two-flange load cases. Forty tests were performed with different bearing lengths, web heights and thicknesses. The results obtained from this research were then compared with the predictions of the design rules provided by the Australian Standard for aluminium structures. The comparison showed that the design equations are very unconservative and therefore potentially unsafe for aluminium lipped channel sections. Hence, suitable modifications were proposed to the available design equations to accurately predict the web crippling capacities of aluminium lipped channel sections.

Topics

• corrosion
• aluminium
• steel
• aluminium alloy