Buckling Design Analysis of Thin-Walled Compressed Members with or without Perforation

Taking into account all parameters characterizing the behavior of thin-walled members (perforations, buckling, complex cross-sections and material work hardening) design standards combine theoretical approaches and numerical analysis with experimental results. In this paper, the results of compression tests on perforated stocky columns carried out at the University of Trento since 1992 are presented. The effects of both load eccentricities and perforations on the load carrying capacity and on the buckling modes of a thin-walled member were investigated, pointing out a significant influence of these parameters. Furthermore, a numerical buckling study was carried out, which includes the development of an efficient tool for investigating thin-walled members’ behavior. The code, based on spline finite strip method, is briefly described in the paper. Its validation against a series of relevant experimental tests is discussed and its effectiveness is finally proved by comparing it with a code based on traditional finite strip method.