Buckling and Post-Buckling Behavior of Tubular Columns Made of Shape Memory Alloys

This paper investigates the stability of thin walled tubular sections made of Shape memory alloy (SMA). The implemented methodology is carried out using numerical simulation. Based on the obtained results, for the SMA columns with aspect ratio, L/H, greater than ۲۰, the phase transformation may occur prior to overall buckling load. Also, due to phase transformation, the buckling and post-buckling behavior in tubular columns is affected with the local buckling mode and the changes in the process of reducing the column post-buckling strength is inevitable. Moreover, this issue can be observed in the interactive mode of local and overall buckling as well. By comparing the buckling in steel and SMA columns, it can be perceived that the local buckling of steel columns occurs at lower axial displacement than SMA ones, nevertheless, the SMA would possess better post-buckling performance than steel one.