New Consistent Set of Design Equations for Equal‐leg Angle Sections and Members

Abstract

Angles profiles have been used since the very beginning of the steel construction due to their easy production, transportation, and ability to be connected. However, they exhibit some specific features that clearly distinguish them from other types of common sections, as they are monosymmetric sections with very small constants in both torsion and warping, their bending capacity and radius of gyration around the weak axis are substantially lower compared to the strong axis ones, their legs are possibly susceptible to local buckling, their plastic resistances are significantly higher than their elastic ones and finally, due to the eccentric connection in one leg, they are also subjected to bending when used as single members. The above‐listed features confirm that existing common design rules for other mostly doubly symmetric type of sections cannot safely cover angle sections, what inevitably leads to the need for development of specific design provisions for angles. Therefore, extensive experimental, analytical, and numerical studies have been conducted to propose a complete and duly validated set of design rules covering all aspects of their design (classification, cross‐section and member resistance). The proposed rules will be included in the forthcoming version of EN1993‐3.