ABSTRACT
The progress of structural engineering in the twentieth century and early in the twenty-first unquestionably tends toward the use of increasingly lighter elements, among which metallic thin-walled cold-formed members play an important role. The structural behaviour of cold-formed metallic members is one of the major research subjects that have been carried out at the Engineering Faculty of Naples. Cold-formed structural products can be classified into two main typologies: structural members and sheeting. Cold-formed sections can be generally obtained through two manufacturing methods: by rolling or by press or bending brake operations. Materials used in the production of cold-formed members have to be suitable for cold-forming and, if required, for galvanizing. As far as steel cold-formed sections are concerned, a wide variety of products are used, in the form of sheets, strips, plates or flat bars. Cold-rolling produces mechanical residual stresses which vary across the sheet thickness.
