Imperfection sensitivity study of hot‐rolled and laser‐welded stainless steel angle columns: Fid-Bau Portal

Imperfection sensitivity study of hot‐rolled and laser‐welded stainless steel angle columns

Filipović, Aljoša / Dobrić, Jelena / Marković, Zlatko / Baddoo, Nancy

Stainless steel sections are used for structures in aggressive environments where the greater material cost can often be justified in return for longer maintenance‐free periods, for example in the water treatment, nuclear, petrochemical and food and beverage sectors. This paper presents a comparative imperfection sensitivity study of hot‐rolled and laser‐welded pin‐ended equal angle columns made of austenitic stainless steel grade 1.4301. Although the initial geometric imperfections in these structural elements are similar, there is a difference in the initial stress state due to the different manufacturing processes. The study includes three‐dimensional geometric imperfection measurements conducted by a laser scanner, and, in parallel residual stress measurements performed by the sectioning method using water jet cutting. The overall bow, camber, and twist imperfections are determined from the scanned specimens. In addition, the shapes of the residual stress patterns through the thickness of the angle leg are shown. Based on the findings related to imperfection distributions and amplitudes, a FE analysis is performed both on hot‐rolled and laser‐welded angles to study the influence of the variability of initial imperfections on compression resistance. The separate and combined effects of the measured residual stresses and initial out‐of‐straightness are considered and the reduction in the buckling resistances of initially straight angle columns is determined. The structural responses of hot‐rolled and laser‐welded columns are compared and discussed.