EUROSTEEL 2014, September 10-12, 2014, Naples, Italy

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON FERRITIC STAINLESS STEEL DECKS IN

CONSTRUCTION STAGE ACCORDING TO EUROCODE 3
Esther Reala, Itsaso Arrayagoa, Frederic Marimonb, Miquel Ferrerb
a
Universitat Politcnica de Catalunya, Dept. of Construction Engineering, Spain
b
Universitat Politcnica de Catalunya, Dept. Strength of Materials and Structural Engineering, Spain
esther.real@upc.edu, itsaso.arrayago@upc.edu, frederic.marimon@upc.edu, miquel.ferrer@upc.edu

INTRODUCTION
The aesthetic appeal and thermal capacity of ferritic stainless steels that contribute to lowering the
heating and cooling requirements of a building, together with the combination of good mechanical
properties and excellent corrosion resistance, makes them ideal for exposed composite slabs using
profiled decks, which might reduce the cost associated to maintenance requirements and heating of
the buildings. In addition, ferritic stainless steels contain only small quantities of nickel so their
price is cheaper and relatively price-stable compared to other stainless steels. Cold-formed members
are very slender, with a high resistance-to-weight ratio, so they are highly sensitive to buckling
phenomena and the behaviour of these elements is very complex. Although the use of composite
floor slabs with carbon steel sheeting is well established, a study into the structural performance of
composite slabs using ferritic stainless steel decking is required due to the complex nonlinear
behaviour of stainless steels, which is very different to carbon steel. This paper presents some tests
characterizing the resistance of a deck profile in the construction stage covering positive and
negative bending tests, continuous tests and small scale moment-rotation and web crushing tests.
The information gained has demonstrated that EN 1993-1-4 [1] is applicable for the design process
and that ferritic stainless steels can be used in this application.
The decking profile that has been tested in this study consists of a cold-formed trapezoidal
corrugated sheet which is approximately 60mm high, 0.8mm thick and 1035mm wide. The upper
part of the waves is reinforced with two stiffeners; while the lower one shows a single stiffener and
the webs present some embossments which permit a good connection of the deck with the concrete.
The main mechanical properties of the studied cross section are gathered in Table 1. The ferritic
grade analysed in this experimental program is the most usual ferritic grade, 1.4003. The most
important material parameters defining the stress-strain behaviour of this material were obtained
from some tensile tests conducted on coupons cut from the cold-formed section and are gathered in
Table 2, where E is the Youngs modulus, 0.2 conventionally considered as the yield stress, is the
proof stress corresponding to a 0.2% plastic strain, and u and u are the ultimate strength and strain
respectively.
Table 1. Main mechanical properties of the studied cross-section
Gross section Positive bending Negative bending
A (cm2) I (cm4) Ieff (cm4) Wel (cm3) Weff (cm3) Ieff (cm4) Wel (cm3) Weff (cm3)
11.68 64.67 51.98 26.13 15.63 57.97 19.47 17.43

Table 2. Main material

parameters for 1.4003 ferritic
stainless steel
E 218104 MPa
0.2 320 MPa
u 488 MPa
u 11%
Fig. 1. General view of the tested decking profile
1 TEST DESCRIPTION

1.1 Simply supported tests: positive and negative bending

Three positive and three negative bending moment tests were carried out in simply supported
stainless steel decks according to EN 1993-1-3, Annex A [2] proposals. The total length of the sheet
was 3100mm, one of the supports consisted of a bearing support with free rotation and free
longitudinal displacement and the other one with free rotation. Spreading of corrugations was
prevented by using transverse ties under the loading sections, support sections were stiffened by
using rectangular hollow sections and timber pieces, and the load was applied by four steel cross
beams arranged to approximate uniformly distributed loading as shown in Fig. 1a. The
displacement of the sheet along the vertical axis in the middle span section was measured by two
linear displacement transducers.

a) b)
Fig. 2. a) Simply supported test configuration; b) Continuous test configuration

1.2 Continuous tests

Three continuous decking tests on 2x3000mm spans were also conducted in order to determine the
resistance of a continuous sheet over two spans to a combination of moment and shear at the
internal support, so as to compare results with the ultimate bending moments obtained from single
span tests. The test set up was also determined according to EN 1993-1-3, Annex A [2]
specifications, materialising the uniformly distributed load by four transverse line loads. A hinged
support was placed in the internal support and roller supports at the ends of the deck. All support
sections were stiffened as in simply supported tests, and spreading of corrugations was also
prevented. In addition, the middle support reaction was measured using two load cells to study
bending moment redistribution and four linear variable differential transducers measuring vertical
deflections were placed in the middle span sections.

1.3 Small scale tests: moment-rotation and web crushing tests

Moment-rotation or internal support tests were conducted in order to simulate an inverted deck
element at the middle support, simulating the interaction between the bending moment and the
reaction. With the purpose of determining the correct interaction diagram, three different s span
lengths were studied as specified in EN 1993-1-3 Annex A [2]. One of the span lengths was defined
according to the distance between the points with zero bending moment in the continuous tests,
similar to the one proposed in [2] s=0.4L=1200mm. The others enabled a correct bending moment-
concentrate load interaction characterization, s=705mm and s=430mm.
The total length of the sheet was 1300mm in all tests and it was subjected to a directly applied
concentrate load at the middle span section by a transverse IPN 120 steel beam as shown in Fig. 3a.
The sheet was simply supported. Six load-displacement curves were obtained in each test, with six
linear variable differential transducers measuring vertical deflections in the middle span section and
at a distance of 100mm from each support section.
 a) b)
Fig. 3. a) Moment-rotation test configuration; b) Web crushing test configuration

Finally, four web crushing or end support test were conducted in order to simulate the outer
supports of the continuous tests and evaluate the shear resistance of the deck. The tests were carried
out according to EN 1993-1-3, Annex A [2] specifications. The load was applied in a bearing length
Ss of 300mm by welding three 100x100 SHS (see Fig. 3b), a rib was used to guarantee that the load
at the rolling support was applied as a line-load and the hinge support was stiffened by using
rectangular hollow sections.
Two of the decks were tested with a distance from the internal edge of the end support to the end of
the sheet of u=40mm, while others had u=60mm, in order to study the influence of this parameter.
A total of four linear variable differential transducers were placed in each test, two at the loading
section and two at a distance of 80mm from the studied support section.

2 TEST RESULTS
All the experimental results from the aforementioned tests are presented in this section. These
values are then compared to the ones predicted by EN 1993-1-3 [2] and some additional proposals
from the literature [3], and also with similar carbon steel test results [4]. Fig. 4 shows the load-
displacement curves of the bending and continuous tests respectively, and the Fu ultimate load and
Mu ultimate bending moment values are gathered in Tables 3 and 4.

a) b)
Fig. 4. a) Load-displacement curves for bending tests; b) Load-displacement curves for continuous tests
Although the load-displacement curves in Fig. 4b show a change in the stiffness at the point when
failure at the internal support of the deck occurred, the structure does not collapse until a higher
load is reached.
 Table 3. Experimental and predicted ultimate load values for bending tests
Experimental EN 1993-1-3 [2] Previous test [4]
Fu (kN) Mu (kNm) Fu (kN) Mu (kNm) Fu (kN) Mu (kNm)
M+ No.1 14.3 5.4 14.5 5.4
M+ No.2 15.5 5.8 13.3 5.0 13.9 5.2
M+ No.3 15.8 5.9 13.9 5.2
Mean 15.2 5.7 13.3 5.0 14.1 5.3
M- No.1 16.4 6.2 13.8 5.2
M- No.2 15.3 5.7 14.9 5.6 13.7 5.1
M- No.3 15.8 5.9 12.8 4.8
Mean 15.8 5.9 14.9 5.6 13.4 5.1

Table 4. Experimental and predicted ultimate load values for continuous tests
EN 1993-1-3 [2] New proposals [3]
Experimental
Eq. (3) Eq. (4)
Ultimate load (kN) Middle support collapse load (kN)
Test No.1 40.5 37.2
Test No.2 40.9 37.6 25.7 28.8
Test No.3 40.9 36.1
Mean 40.7 36.9 25.7 28.8

Fig. 5 gathers the load-displacement curves for the different small scale tests: one curve for each of
the studied span lengths for the moment-rotation tests and all the curves for the web crushing test.
The achieved Fu ultimate loads and Ru ultimate reactions are presented in Tables 5 and 6.

a) b)
Fig. 5. a) Load-displacement curves for moment-rotation tests; b) Load-displacement curves for web crushing tests

Table 5. Experimental and predicted ultimate load values for moment-rotation tests
Experimental EN 1993-1-3 [2] New proposal [3] Previous test [4]
Span length
Fu (kN) Eq. (3) Fu (kN) Eq. (4) Fu (kN) Fu (kN)
Test No.1 29.3 25.4
Test No.2 29.4 25.6 28.7 25.0
s=430mm
Test No.3 29.4 ---
Mean 29.4 25.6 28.7 25.2
Test No.1 25.3 20.9
Test No.2 25.7 20.4 22.9 20.3
s=705mm
Test No.3 25.7 ---
Mean 25.6 20.4 22.9 20.6
Test No.1 18.0 ---
Test No.2 17.4 15.0 16.8 ---
s=1200mm
Test No.3 18.4 ---
Mean 17.9 15.0 16.8 ---
 Table 6. Experimental and predicted ultimate load values for web crushing tests
EN 1993-1-3 [2] New proposal [3]
Experimental Previous tests [4]
(la=10mm) Eq. (4)
Ultimate load (kN) Ultimate reaction at the studied support, Ru (kN) Ultimate load (kN)
Test No.1 45.8 30.2 43.5
Test No.2 45.9 30.3 43.7
9.8 23.1
Test No.3 44.4 29.3 43.1
Test No.4 45.6 30.1 ---
Mean 45.4 29.9 9.8 23.1 43.4

3 EN 1993-1-4 ASSESSMENT
After presenting the test configurations and results, the assessment of those results according to EN
1993-1-4 [1] is analysed in this section by comparing the experimental ultimate loads with the ones
predicted by EN 1993-1-4, which remits to EN 1993-1-3 [2] for cold formed profiles. Experimental
results on simply supported cold-formed trapezoidal sheets show that the Mc,Rd bending moment
resistance predicted by Eq. (1) provides safe results for both positive and negative bending
moments as it is shown in Table 3.
For continuous decks the load resistance of the system is determined by the bending moment-
reaction interaction at the internal support according to EN 1993-1-3, described by Eq. (3), where
Rw,Rd is the web crippling resistance defined in Eq. (2). Nevertheless, a new interaction proposal Eq.
(4) was suggested in [3] for stainless steel cold-formed sections. Considering results presented in
Table 4, it can be concluded that both proposals are applicable to ferritic stainless steel decks, even
if Eq. (4) provides better results. As the internal support section was stiffened, the Rw,Rd value
obtained from Eq. (2) is lower than the real shear resistance of the deck, so the loads predicted by
Eqs. (3)-(4) are lower. However, predicted values are quite conservative because they do not
consider the moment redistribution in the middle support. This redistribution is partial due to local
and distortional buckling that occurs in slender cross-sections, causing a reduction in the interior
support moment prior to the failure of the system.
Weff 0.2
M Ed M c, Rd (1)
M0
FEd Rw,Rd nw t 2 0.2 E (1 0.1 r / t )(0.5 0.02la / t )( 2.4 ( / 90) 2 ) / M 1 (2)
FEd M
Ed 1.25 interaction expression for carbon steel from EN 1993-1-3 [2] (3)
Rw, Rd M c,Rd
FEd M Ed
1.4 (4)
Rw,Rd M c,Rd interaction expression for stainless steel from [3]

where Weff is the effective section modulus, M0 and M1 are the safety partial factors, MEd and REd
are the applied bending moment and transverse force respectively. R w,Rd is the web crippling
resistance, which depends on geometrical parameters such as the internal radius (r), the thickness
(t), the number of webs (nw) and the relative angle between the web and the flange (). The values
of both la and depend on the test configuration and the section type, defined in EN 1993-1-3.
Negative bending moment-reaction interaction for ferritic stainless steel decks has been analysed
through the moment-rotation tests. The assessment of both interaction expressions studied for the
continuous tests Eqs. (3)-(4) is checked, with similar results: the interaction equation proposed for
stainless steel cross-sections Eq. (4) provides better results than the one gathered in EN 1993-1-3
[2], as it is shown in Table 5.
EN 1993-1-3 resistance verification for web crushing tests is defined through Eq. (2) and la=10mm.
Considering results gathered in Table 6, EN 1993-1-3 proposals for web crushing seem to be too
conservative. Nevertheless, it was noticed that the failure mechanism was a bending moment-
concentrate load interaction for all the conducted end support tests, so the studied decks are
expected to fail in the middle span section before the web crushing resistance is reached in outer
supports. The tests also highlighted the need of new suggestions for the definition of end support
tests in EN 1993-1-3. Hence, an additional case considering these tests as moment-rotation tests
through Eq. (4) has also been studied and presented in Table 6.

4 COMPARISON WITH CARBON STEEL RESULTS

Results obtained in the tests presented in this paper for positive and negative bending and for small
scale tests can be compared to the ones conducted by the Universitt Karlsruhe [4]. The geometries
used in these, so as test configurations, are similar to the ones used in this study except for the deck
thickness: while the decks in [4] were 0.75mm thick, the ones conducted in the present study are
0.8mm. Tables 2, 4 and 5 gather the comparison of the ultimate loads for both test programs.
Generally, the reached ultimate loads are very similar, although the loads achieved in this study are
higher because the considered decks are slightly thicker.

5 CONCLUSIONS
Results obtained from the tests conducted in this study were similar to the ones carried out in
carbon steel and showed that expressions proposed in EN 1993-1-3 are, in general, applicable to
ferritic stainless steel decks, although some changes may be introduced in order to get more
accurate predicting loads.
The new expression for the consideration of the interaction between the bending moment and the
shear force proposed for stainless steels showed better results than the original one, calibrated for
carbon steel cross-sections. The continuous decking tests showed that the current approach in EN
1993-1-3 is safe but conservative, so a design strategy allowing a partial moment redistribution at
the internal support needs to be developed in order to get more accurate resistance values.
Finally, it can be also concluded that EN 1993-1-3 proposals for web crushing predictions are too
conservative, but as the failure mechanism was a bending moment-concentrate load interaction for
all the end support tests, the studied decks are expected to fail in the middle span section before the
web crushing resistance is reached in the outer supports.

6 ANCKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community's
Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) under Grant Agreement No. RFSR-CT-2010-00026, as
well as from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacin (Spain) under the Project BIA 2010-11876-E
Acciones complementarias. The second author also wants to knowledge the financial support
given by UPC. The authors also want to thank Francesc J. Garcia Rabella for his collaboration
during the tests.

REFERENCES
[1] EN 1993-1-4 European Committee for Standardization Eurocode 3. Design of steel structures. Part 1-4:
General rules. Supplementary rules for stainless steels. Brussels, Belgium. 2006.
[2] EN 1993-1-3. European Committee for Standardization Eurocode 3. Design of steel structures. Part 1-3:
General rules. Supplementary rules for cold formed members and sheeting. Brussels, Belgium. 2006.
[3] Jonas Gozzi. Structural Design of Cold Worked Austenitic Stainless Steel Work Package 3 Cold
Formed Profiles and Sheeting Cold Formed Hat and Sheeting profiles - Numerical modelling and
design guidance - Final report 2004-05-05 Division of Steel Structures Lule University of Technology.
[4] H.J. Bla. H. Saal. Experimentelle Trayfhigkeitsuntersuchung von Stahlblechprofilen COFRADAL 60
PLUS. Fa. PAB Nord Groupe USINOR S.A. Nanterre. Frankreich. 2006. Bericht Nr: 993016-a.