Buckling of steel cylindrical hollow sections with large imperfections under compression

A study was conducted using finite-element (FE) analyses of cylindrical hollow section steel tubes with geometric variables. The ultimate capacity and buckling modes were evaluated. The effect of dent-shaped damage was assessed for different models with varying slenderness and the buckling behaviour of the models was compared. In general, a dent imperfection appeared to have a moderately reducing effect on the capacity. However, a capacity reduction of 25% was found in slender models with the largest dents, which is significant when design and/or rehabilitation of these elements are taken into consideration. Very good agreement was found between the experiments and the models, demonstrating that the adopted FE approach was capable of being employed to examine the buckling response of dented cylindrical shells.