Design of stainless steel joints at room temperature and elevated temperatures

Stainless steel materials have long been considered an expensive option for application in construction. However, previous research has shown that the lifetime cost of stainless steel structures can be substantially lower than carbon steel structures in the long run, due to the high maintenance costs associated with carbon steel structures.

Ferritic stainless steel, which features a high strength and a relatively low price, has a high potential to be applied in construction. However, existing research on structural behaviour of ferritic stainless steel members remains limited. Up to now, no research is available on the structural behaviour of ferritic stainless steel joints. Moreover, the existing design equations for joint design were developed based on carbon steel rather than stainless steel. Thus, there is lack of suitable design rules for ferritic stainless steel structural joints. Preliminary studies have shown that existing design rules are not suitable, and may be unreliable for design of ferritic stainless steel T- and X-joints. It is therefore necessary to conduct further investigations into the structural behaviour of ferritic stainless steel joints at both room and elevated temperatures, and thus to propose design recommendations for engineers to use such materials in construction applications.

Possible approaches to solve this problem could include finite element modelling and experimental studies of a range of joint configurations. The suitability of the existing design rules for ferritic stainless steel joints at room and elevated temperatures can then be assessed using reliability analysis. Finally, design recommendations will be proposed for ferritic stainless steel joints at room and elevated temperatures.