DUCTILITY OF G550 SHEET STEELS IN TENSION

Cold formed structural members are fabricated from sheet steels which must meet various material requirements prescribed in applicable natio nal design standards. These requirements ensure that (1) Stress concen trations can be redistributed; and (2) members and connections can und ergo a minimum amount of displacement without a loss in structural per formance. The 1996 Australian/New Zealand (AS/NZS 4600) and 1996 North American (CSA-S136 and AISI), Cold Formed Steel Design Standards allo w for the use of thin (t < 0.9 mm), high strength (f(y) = 550 MPa) she et steels if the: yield stress and ultimate strength are reduced to 75 % of their minimum specified values, This paper provides a summary of results detailing the ductility and net cross-section tensile resistan ce of G550 sheet steels (to the 1993 Australian Standard AS 1397), tes ted as solid and perforated coupons. Material properties of the test s pecimens ape compared with the Dhalla and Winter requirements for duct ility and ultimate strength to yield stress ratio. Limit states tensil e design equations are calibrated according to procedures defined by t he 1996 American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) Commentary.