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OK, interesting stuff being posted here! Can I pose another questions? Assuming I were to build a steel pier (with diameter of say 200-250mm), is there any advanatge or disadvantage or using a circular steel pipe v a square-section pipe?
I suspect the answer may lie somewhere in the formulae quoted above, but I'm no engineer ;-)
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Assuming same wall thickness, same material, and the sides of the square section are the same as the diameter of the circular hollow section, the square is stiffer by some 75-80%. It's a more structurally efficient shape in bending.
But it's also slightly heavier by some 25-30%, therefore uses a bit more steel, therefore is probably slightly more expensive. Steel is usually priced kg/m give or take.