For the time being, the cold-formed sections are widely used due to their simple manufacturing and construction processes. To be feasible, the strength of cold-formed columns should be determined based on their post-buckling behavior. Post-buckling relations are cumbersome and need design aids similar to those of American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) to be applicable. These design aids have been developed to sections and materials other than those available in the local market. Therefore, this paper tries to develop a general finite element model to simulate the postbuckling behavior of cold-formed steel columns. Shell element has been used to discretize the web, flanges, and lips of the column. A linear bucking analysis with subspace Eigen value scheme has been achieved to determine the global, distortional, and local mode shapes. Subsequently, these modes have been used to generate the correspond imperfections. Finally, the modified Riks method has been used to solve the nonlinear equations of equilibrium and to a void the possible snap through phenomenon. Comparing with the traditional analyses using the effective width method and the direct strength method indicates that the finite element analysis is adequate and can be used for practical applications when dealing with local sections and materials.
Finally, different case studies with different column spans have been considered to show the behavior of the column for different slenderness ratios.
