Behaviour of Aluminium EN AW 6082 T6 Columns Exposed to Transient Heating—Experimental and Numerical Analysis

The paper presents an experimental and numerical analysis of EN AW 6082 T6 aluminium alloy columns exposed to high-temperature creep in transient conditions. Transient tests with columns subjected to a constant heating rate for a persistent external load in the form of the horizontal and transversal forces were carried out. A total of ten columns were examined with varying ratios of horizontal and transversal loads. The test results were compared to numerical results obtained from ANSYS 16.2. The coefficients for an ANSYS built-in Modified Time Hardening creep model were calibrated from the previously conducted tests on coupons and used as a base for the numerical analysis of the column. The study results reveal that creep reduces column load-bearing capacity, starting at temperatures above 150 °C. Furthermore, the level of reduction in the aluminium column capacity, which manifests itself as a runaway failure of the column between the creep and creep-free model, deviates with a difference exceeding 160% in vertical displacement upon failure, while the creep model correlates very well with the results obtained from the tested specimens in terms of failure time and the displacement ratio.