Abstract
This paper is concerned with the effect of stiffened element at the flange/web junction and complex edge stiffener in behaviour and strength of built-up cold-formed steel flexural members. An extensive experimental investigation and a finite element analysis of stiffened built-up cold-formed beam sections with complex stiffeners under two point loading is presented. A nonlinear finite element model is developed and verified against test results. All the results are compared with the design strength calculated using the North American Iron and Steel Institute Specification for cold-formed steel structures (AISI: S100, 2007). Following the validation, an extensive finite element parametric study is conducted to study the influences of a range of parameters, and the results are compared with the nominal design strength by AISI: S100 (2007) and suitable recommendation are made.