Abstract Despite a significant development of prEN 1993‐1‐4:2021, there is still a need for clear design rules for geometrically non‐linear analysis, considering equivalent member and structural imperfections. This approach, often referred to as the general method, has become popular for carbon steel structures but requires modifications to be applied to slender stainless steel structures. The stainless steel non‐linear stress strain diagram leads to a reduction in bending stiffness, resulting in higher second‐order effects, which must be addressed in the procedure. This research aims to conduct a comparison of numerical parametric studies and make adaptations to enable the use of carbon steel design procedures. A preliminary recommendation for the general method of designing stainless steel slender members will be presented to make these methodologies more suitable for the structural design of such profiles.
Arrais et al. (2025) studied this question.