Design for openings in equal-angle cold-formed steel stub columns

This paper is concerned with the ultimate load capacity of non-perforated and perforated equal-angle cold-formed steel stub columns. An experimental study has been undertaken to investigate the behavior of such members and several column specimens were tested to failure under axial or eccentric loading. The experimental results were used to establish the accuracy of a finite element model proposed in this study and the modeling was used to carry out a parametric study. The study covers parameters such as plate slenderness ratio of the cross-section, perforation shape, size and number. A simplified design formula is proposed to determine the ultimate load-carrying capacity using the data obtained from the parametric study. The accuracy of the proposed formula is established by comparison with the experimental and finite element values.