ABSTRACT
Recent studies show that the current lateral torsional buckling design rules in EN 1993-1-1 for carbon steel are very conservative for stocky sections in the medium global slenderness range. This phenomenon is also noticeable for stainless steel beams, even though a rather limited amount of experimental results exist. The discrepancy between the tests and the theoretical results is nevertheless reduced if a recently developed lateral torsional buckling formula (Taras & Greiner 2010) is used. This paper investigates the lateral torsional buckling behaviour of welded duplex stainless steel I section beams using a Finite Element (FE) model calibrated against reference experimental results. Based on the results, the accuracy of EN 1993-1-4 and of Taras & Greiner’s (2010) predictions are assessed. Finally, conclusions on the lateral torsional buckling behaviour of welded stainless steel I sections are drawn.
