Tests of Cold-formed Ferritic Stainless Steel Beams

Abstract

Ferritic stainless steel is characterized by its low or even no nickel content, which provides a good alternative to a more commonly used austenitic stainless steel (with 8.0-10.0% nickel content) in structural application. The low nickel content attributes to low initial material cost and more stable price for ferritic stainless steel. A series of four-point bending tests was conducted on both square and rectangular hollow sections to investigate the flexural performance of cold-formed ferritic stainless steel hollow sections. The experimental results obtained from this test program and the available data in the literature on cold-formed ferritic stainless steel beams were used to assess the current design rules in the American Specification and direct strength method. It is shown that the current design specifications provide conservative predictions for the cold-formed ferritic stainless steel beams.