Experimental programme on austenitic stainless steel beams and columns

High ductility, durability, strain hardening and good fire resistance make stainless steel an excellent construction material. In recent years, a considerable amount of research has been devoted to the understanding of the structural performance of single isolated stainless steel members. Notwithstanding, advances related to the analysis of more complex stainless steel structures, such as frames, are scarce. An extensive experimental program on austenitic stainless steel frames is being carried out at Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya. This programme is aimed at assessing the performance of stainless steel frames subjected to static loading. It comprises several subprograms in which the performance of these structures at different levels –material, cross-sections, members and frames– is investigated. The objective of this paper is to present tests results on austenitic stainless steel stub columns, beams and columns comprising the frames to determine cross-section and member resistances, to asses the currents design rules and facilitate the future analysis of the experimental tests on the stainless steel frames. The paper presents experimental results as well as the comparison of traditional measurement techniques with advanced Digital Image Correlation (DIC) solutions.