JSTE_V4_N4_RP4 M. Venkatesan Journal on Structural Engineering 2320 - 2343 4 4 25 31 Cold-Formed Steel Columns, Distortional Buckling, Rack Columns This paper presents the detailed investigation of experimental and numerical studies on the buckling behaviour of coldformed steel rack columns under axial compression. Compression tests were conducted on four short cold formed rack columns with both end hinged condition. The experimental investigation was focused on the strength and behaviour of cold formed steel rack columns. For each specimen, a shell finite element Eigen buckling and non-linear buckling analysis were conducted using finite element software ANSYS. The finite element analysis included relevant geometric imperfections. It is demonstrated that, the finite element model closely predicts the experimental ultimate loads and the behaviour of the cold-formed rack columns. Comparisons of experimental and numerical results are done. Conclusions and scope for future work is presented based on the results. December 2015 - February 2016 Copyright © 2016 i-manager publications. All rights reserved. i-manager Publications http://www.imanagerpublications.com/Article.aspx?ArticleId=4853