The collapse of square section tubes in bending

The effect of changes in material properties and of geometry upon the load to initiate collapse, and also upon the energy to produce extensive plastic deformation during the three point bending of square section steel tubes, was examined. Over a wide range of material characteristics studied, the tensile strength gave the best correlation with the collapse load and energy characteristics. The geometric contribution to the effectiveness of the tube in resisting collapse was found to depend upon two factors, the relative density of the tube and the side dimension of the tube.