ANÁLISE TEÓRICA PELO MÉTODO DA RESISTÊNCIA DIRETA DE SEÇÕES DUPLAS DE PERFIS DE AÇO FORMADOS A FRIO SOB COMPRESSÃO

The need for lighter, lower-cost construction has intensified, so the presence of cold-formed profiles has become common in civil construction, offering greater efficiency in the ability to withstand the current demands. The present article aimed at the theoretical study on the stability of double U and U lipped sections, composed of cold formed steel profiles, submitted to compression. Under the justification of analyzing the effectiveness of this type of structural element, with the help of the CUFSM Software that uses the Finite Strip Method, and verify the resistance by the Direct Strength Method (DSM). The objectives of this study were: to investigate the modeling in the CUFSM software for a double section with profiles connected to each other; and apply the DSM to the theoretical analysis of double sections with Brazilian commercial profiles. It was found that the variation in the number of connections influences the analysis and can reproduce the partial connection behavior. The application of folds proved to be efficient, with little influence on local instability and considerable influence on distortion instability. The DSM showed a loss of resistance for the models that presented a local failure mode, being, therefore, the most important factor regarding the resistance.