Beam-column behaviour of stainless steel I-section members

Stainless steel beam-columns were experimentally and numerically investigated in this study. All members were subjected to compression and major axis bending induced by an eccentricity of the compressive load. The loading eccentricities for the tests varied to provide a wide range of bending moment-to-axial load ratios. The experimental program covers ordinary-welded and laser-welded I-section specimens made of stainless steel. Material tensile coupon tests and initial geometric imperfection measurements are also described in detail. Measurements of initial imperfections were performed using two different methods, using a mechanical dial and laser scanning. The test results were subsequently used for a validation of a finite element (FE) model, developed in ABAQUS software to replicate the beam-column behaviour. The accuracy of the models with the two combinations of local and global imperfections were evaluated by comparison with the test results.