Cold-formed high-strength tubes for structural applications

Cold-formed hollow sections are the dominant tubular construction material. The applicability of cold-formed tubes is sometimes questioned because of doubts about low-temperature ductility, deformation capacity of welded joints, suitability for welding in the cold-formed corner, poor fatigue behaviour of the corner or suitability for hot-dip galvanizing. It is also claimed that by choosing hot-finished tubes, such risks can be automatically avoided. This study confirms that appropriate tube manufacturing yields cold-formed EN 10219 tubes in grades S355J2H to S460MH with a performance equal to or better than hot-finished tubes. Properly made cold-formed high-strength tubes are available for fabricating efficient lightweight structures and can be safely used even at low temperatures without the aforementioned doubts.