Strut Behaviour of a New High Yield Stress Structural Steel

The development of new high-strength steels of strengths greater than that of steel to BS 968 has necessitated the examination of their structural behaviour in order to
formulate design rules. This paper presents the results of 130 strut tests on one such steel of 447 MN/m2 (29 ton/in2) yield stress. Five sections, of different geometry, were studied, and the effect of stress relieving on stub columns investigated. These tests were carried out over a range of slenderness ratios from which is derived a strut curve. This is compared with those extrapolated from the formulas in BS 153 and BS 449 and is found to lie above both for all slenderness ratios. Thus it is concluded that these formulas may safely be applied to the design of struts in steel with a yield stress up to 463 MN/m2 (30 tonf/in2) for both bridges and structures.

G. Strymowicz and P.D.M. Horsley