Patent ID: 8191221

Claim:
A method for evaluating local buckling performance of a steel pipe, wherein the pipe diameter D, the pipe thickness t, and the required critical strain ε req are known, characterized in obtaining a stress-strain relationship of a material having a yield plateau in the stress-strain relationship; determining whether the yield strain ε y , the modulus of strain-hardening m, and the starting strain of strain-hardening ε H of a stress-strain curve of the stress-strain relationship obtained are in a region defined by equations below in a coordinate plane with an ordinate indicating ε y /m and an abscissa indicating ε H ; and evaluating that the steel pipe has a possibility of being applied to a structure that requires plastic design when these values are within the region and that the steel pipe has no possibility of being applied to a structure that requires plastic design when these values are outside the region: { ɛ H + 4 3 ⁢ ( t D ) } ≤ ɛ y m ≤ { ɛ H + 16 9 ⁢ ɛ req ⁢ ( t D ) 2 } ( 30 ) wherein ε y ≦ε H ≦ε req and { ɛ H + 4 3 ⁢ ( t D ) } ≤ ɛ y m ≤ { ɛ H + 16 9 ⁢ ɛ H ⁢ ( t D ) 2 } ⁢ ⁢ wherein ⁢ ⁢ ɛ req < ɛ H < 4 3 ⁢ ( t D ) . ( 31 )