Plastic mechanisms database for thin-walled cold-formed steel members in compression and bending

Short members of thin-walled cold-formed (TWCF) steel sections, in compression and bending, fail by forming local plastic mechanisms. Taking into account the localised buckling pattern, the collapse of slender members, due to the interaction between local and overall buckling modes, is always characterised by local plastic mechanism failure mode. Based on these two observations, the ultimate strength in interactive buckling of these members can be regarded as an interaction between localised plastic mode and overall elastic one. The yield line mechanism method has been widely used to predict the sectional strength (e.g. local) of thin-walled cold-formed steel members that involve failure mode characterized by local collapse mechanisms. This method can be also used to study post-collapse behaviour and to evaluate the load-carrying capacity, ductility and energy absorption. This paper is based on previous studies and some latest investigations of authors, as well as the literature collected data. It represents an attempt to make an inventory, classify and range geometrical and analytical models for the local-plastic mechanisms aiming to characterize the ultimate capacity of some of the most used cold-formed steel sections in structural applications. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.