Design of Lean Duplex and Ferritic Stainless Steel Structures

Stainless steel material has long been considered as an expensive option to be used in construction. However, previous research has shown that life-long cost of stainless steel structures can be substantially lower than carbon steel structures in a long run, due to the high maintenance cost of carbon steel structures.

Currently, stainless steel structural materials are dominated by austenitic stainless steel. The austenitic stainless steel grade 304 and 316L are used in 75% of all stainless steel structures. However, austenitic stainless steel has a relatively high nickel (Ni) content, which is a rare mineral with high and fluctuating price. Lean duplex and ferritic stainless steel features in high strength and a relatively low price, has a high potential to be widely applied in construction. However, existing research on structural behaviour of lean duplex and ferritic stainless steel structures is quite limited. This PhD research project focus on structural behaviour of ferritic stainless steel joints, perforated beams, beam-column members and lean duplex stainless steel beam-column members. The research output facilitates the application of new stainless steel materials in structural engineering.

Possible approaches to solve this problem could include finite element modelling, experimental studies and reliability analysis to the existing design specifications. Finally, design recommendations will be proposed for ferritic and lean duplex stainless steel structural members.