Square box sections—experimental behaviour under combined bending and compression

Abstract

A series of tests was performed in which short lengths of square thin-walled steel box section to a model scale were tested to failure under combined bending and compression in a stiff loading rig. The design of the rig, the method of manufacture of the specimens, and the nature of the instrumentation are all discussed. The results illustrate the weakening effect of local buckling at large width/thickness ratios, and are compared with an approximate theoretical analysis recently presented by the author. A surprising result is that ten of the twenty-two specimens tested were stronger than predicted by simple plastic theory.