Local buckling capacity of C-shaped cold-formed steel sections with punched webs

Abstract

Load tests were carried out on 36 stub column samples of cold-formed steel studs having 38.1 mm wide × 44.5 mm long holes punched through their webs, steel thicknesses of 1.21–2.01 mm, and overall section depths of 63–204 mm. Based on these tests a best-fit equation for the effective width of the unstiffened portion of the web beside the holes has been developed. Suggested design equations have been proposed. The test results support the present equation for the average yield stress [Formula: see text] in Canadian Standards Association Standard S136-1974 but the present code equations for unstiffened plates are unduly conservative when applied to the design of the web adjacent to openings of the size considered.