%0 Journal Article %T STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF SPACERS ON THE ULTIMATE CAPACITY OF INTERMEDIATE LENGTH THIN WALLED SECTION UNDER COMPRESSION %J Iranian Journal of Science and Technology Transactions of Civil Engineering %I Shiraz University %Z 2228-6160 %D 2014 %\ 03/01/2014 %V 38 %N C1+ %P 191-204 %! STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF SPACERS ON THE ULTIMATE CAPACITY OF INTERMEDIATE LENGTH THIN WALLED SECTION UNDER COMPRESSION %K Cold-formed steel %K columns %K distortional buckling %K spacers %K thin walled members %R 10.22099/ijstc.2014.1863 %X This paper reports the results of experimental, analytical and numerical studies on theeffect of spacers on the behaviour and ultimate capacity of intermediate length Cold-formed steel(CFS) open section column. A channel section is considered. Totally, four columns wereexperimented with hinged-hinged end condition. The section properties and selection of columnlength were obtained by performing elastic buckling analysis using CUFSM software. FiniteElement models incorporating the geometric, material non linearities and initial geometricimperfection of the specimens were developed by using ANSYS and its accuracy was verifiedusing the experimental results. Following the verification, a finite element parametric study wascarried out by varying the depth and number of spacers. Experimental and numerical strength ofopen sections were compared with the predicted resistance by DSM – AISI S100:2007, AS/NZS:4600- 2005, Eurocode 3 and IS: 801-1975. Effects of spacers on the ultimate load capacity of thecolumn have been examined. The results are presented in the form of design charts. It is concludedthat depth and number of spacers have significant influence on the behaviour and strength of thecolumns. Based on the nonlinear regression analysis the design equation was proposed for theselected section. %U https://ijstc.shirazu.ac.ir/article_1863_e16fc189512fa66834b0670038afaa2d.pdf