Experimental testing on the compressive strength of solid steel round bars

Solid steel round bars are used as legs, diagonals and horizontal members of a communication tower. The Canadian Standards, CAN/CSA-S16.1-94, AISC-LRFD Specifications of 1993, and the European Standard, Eurocode 3, provide the factored compressive resistance of structural steel members other than solid rounds. While, the Current Canadian Standard, CAN/CSA-S37-01 of 2001, for Antenna towers and Antenna Supporting Structures specifies empirical expressions for the compressive strength of solid rounds based on the SSRC column curves for non-solid-round bars and the results from experimental investigation on the compressive resistance of solid rounds carried out back to 1965. This thesis provides a summary of the available literature on the compressive strength of solid rounds as well as the results of recently tested large solid round bars. Correlation between the results from these tests and the current practice for the design of solid rounds is investigated. Recommendations to update the available code equations are drawn.