STUDY ON THE LOCAL BUCKLING BEHAVIOR OF HIGH STRENGTH ALUMINIUM ALLOY ANGLE COLUMNS UNDER AXIAL COMPRESSION

In order to study the local buckling behavior of high strength aluminium alloy angle columns under axial compression, 9 different stub angle columns made of 701-T6 and 703-T6 high strength aluminium alloy were tested. The first-order eigenvalue local buckling mode was observed on every specimen before yielding. The finite element models were established for all specimens and the results were compared to the test results to validate these models. The verified models were then used to carry out parametric study to investigate the influence of width-to-thickness ratio on the local buckling behavior. The results show that the local buckling occurs earlier when the width-to-thickness ratio is larger. The experimental and numerical results were compared with the predictions given by the current Chinese standard. The Chinese standard is found to be safe but conservative as it underestimates the loading capacity, which is not conducive to exploit the full strength of the material. Therefore, a modified design method is proposed based on the current standard, which can give more accurate predictions with the same reliability and efficiency.