Experimental Investigations on Built‐Up Cold‐Formed Members Assembled by Laser Welding

Abstract A cold‐formed steel built‐up beam consisting of trapezoidal corrugated web and steel lipped channel sections was developed within the Wellformed research project. The findings demonstrated the potential of this solution for standardisation and mass production. Building on this, the research was extended as part of the Wellformed‐Frames project with the scope to develop cold‐formed steel frames. Structural details that allow for deconstruction and reuse were proposed. With the aim of reducing manufacturing costs and enhancing structural performance, the laser welding technology was proposed for the assembly process. Through experimental testing and computational simulations, the solution was further improved and proven to be a resilient and sustainable structural system. This paper presents the experimental investigations of a built‐up cold‐formed steel beam, a built‐up cold‐formed steel column and a portal frame joint. The column and joint have been tested under monotonic and cyclic loading. The results of the built‐up cold‐formed steel beams assembled by laser welding are reported and compared with the results obtained for similar beams assembled by spot‐welding and MIG brazing.