Graduation date: 1997

M.Ing. (Civil Engineering) / The purpose of this investigation was to develop the basic information necessary for formulating creteria for the design of Type 3CR12 steel hot-rolled sections as columns. The mechanical properties needed for structural design are established. Investigations into the behaviour of axially loaded compression members indicated that the overall column buckling of compression members may be predicted with confidence by the tangent modulus approach. Finally simplified design recommendations are made for the design of Type 3CR12 steel hot-rolled columns. The need for future research are identified.

M.Ing. / Type 3CR12 steel is a corrosion resisting steel which is intended to be an alternative structural steel to replace the use of coated mild steel and low alloy steels in mild corrosive environments. This necessitate the experimental verification of the structural behaviour thereof. The purpose of this dissertation is therefore to compare the experimental structural bending behaviour regarding elastic and inelastic lateral torsional buckling of doubly symmetric I-beams and monosymmetric channel sections with the existing theories for carbon steel beams and to modify or develop new applicable theories if necessary. From the theoretical and experimental results it is concluded that the behaviour of heat treated Type 3CR12 beams can be estimated fairly accurate with existing theories and that the tangent modulus approach should be used for more accurate estimates as well as for beams that are not heat treated.