huangyhg

maximum slenderness for aluminum columns
hello
i do not have copy of the aluminum design manual (as per ibc reference) but have design manuals from alcan "strength of aluminum" and the canadian design code can3-s157-m83(r2000) but cannot locate a us design code maximum slenderness value for aluminum columns. the canadian code states a limit of 120. i recognize the diminishing fc for slenderness ranges b to c, with eulers following beyond c but cannot locate a code reference to a maximum.
any help would be greatly appreciated.
warren willows
vancouver bc
canada
there may not be a code maximum. the current australian steel design code has no upper limit whereas the old steel code had a limit of 180.
in practice, i dont like the look of skinny columns, and i dont like designing columns to their limit. one reason for this is that in the material handling industry, clients have a habit of changing the design criteria/loads mid-design.
i also recall designing a column to the limit as a young engineer and everyone who saw it got worried!
its good to be able to sleep at night without worrying about a column being too skinny.
for an interesting discussion see

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