Lateral - Buckling tests of cold-formed rhs beams

In this paper, tests on the lateral buckling of cold-formed rectangular hollow sections (RHS) beams under uniform bending moment are described. The section size chosen for testing is 75 x 25 x 2.5 mm, which is the largest depth/width ratio manufactured in Australia. The beam spans varied from 2,000 to 7,000 mm t? produce a large range of ?eam-slenderness ratios. Carefully designed loading and support systems were used In the tests to apply gravlty load through the centroid of the section and to ensure that simply supported end conditIOns were achieved. The test results are compared with existing design models and standards. An improved design rule is given for the lateral buckling of cold-formed RHS beams.