ABSTRACT
The present paper is related to the stability, resistance and design of steel hollow section members. More precisely, the behavior of sections is investigated. The intention is to improve the way the performance and the carrying capacity of tubular members are actually characterized, through the development of an original “Overall Interaction Concept” (OIC). Taking into account the resistance and stability interaction, the OIC further incorporates the effects of imperfections (non-homogenous material, residual stresses, out-of-straightness…) through the derivation of adequate “interaction curves” to accurately predict the real behavior of structural elements. The proposed concept is powerful enough to i) increase accuracy and bridge the specificities of the different materials under a unified, simple and effective basis, ii) deal with the effects of non-linear material behavior and local/global instabilities, and iii) advance consistency with the possibility of straightforwardly deal with all load cases, including combined ones (cf. Boissonnade 2013).
