Flexural Resistance of Aluminium Alloy Circular Hollow Sections

Abstract

Aluminium alloy circular hollow sections (CHS) are used as structural elements due to their corrosion resistance and aesthetic appearance. However, to date there has been limited research into the flexural behaviour of aluminium alloy circular hollow sections. Recently, a series of four-point bending tests and a supplementary numerical parametric study have been undertaken to address this shortcoming. This paper proposes a new design approach, the continuous strength method (CSM), for CHS flexural members. The accuracy and consistency of the CSM design rules was compared with the American Design Manual (AA), the Australian/New Zealand Standard (AS/NZS) and Eurocode 9 (EC9) using the experimental data and numerical results. It has been observed that the AA, the AS/NZS and EC9 design resistance expressions are fairly conservative, while the CSM provides more accurate and less scattered flexural design predictions, which can be attributed to the inclusion of the strain hardening effects as well as the replacement of cross-section classification with a continuous relationship between local slenderness and the allowable deformation capacity.