ABSTRACT
The general purpose FE software ABAQUS has been utilized to model 20 I-section geometries subjected to a large number of loading cases. All modelled crosssections had a flange width of 100 mm and a flange thickness varying from 6 mm to 10 mm in increments of 1 mm, whilst two section aspect ratios equal to 1 and 2 and two flange to web thickness ratios equal to 1 and 0.6 were investigated, thus resulting in 20 cross-section geometries. For each component, 73 combinations of axial compression and biaxial bending about both principal axes were imposed. All modelled stub columns failed by local buckling and the obtained ultimate capacity was assumed to represent the cross-sectional capacity of the modelled component. A full account of the basic modeling assumptions adopted herein is given in Theofanous & Gardner (2012a). Based on the obtained results, current design provisions are assessed in the following sections of the paper.
