Stability and load carrying capacity of multi-cell thin-walled columns of rectangular cross-sections

The paper concerns theoretical, numerical and experimental analysis of the stability and ultimate load of multi-cell thin-walled columns of rectangular and square cross-sections subjected to axial compression (uniform shortening of the column). The theoretical analysis deals with the local and global stability of multi-cell orthotropic columns of a rectangular profile with rectangular cells. It has been shown that for a multi-cell column made of the same material and having the same cross-section area, the value of local buckling stress of the column walls grows rapidly with an increase of the cell number. The experiment conducted for isotropic columns has also proved a significant growth of the ultimate load with the increase of the cell number. The paper gives some conclusions which can be useful in design of thin-walled box columns.