The Continuous Strength Method (CSM) provides accurate resistance predictions for both stocky and slender stainless steel cross-sections; in the case of the former, allowance is made for the beneficial effects of strain hardening, while for the latter, design is simplified by the avoidance of effective width calculations. Although the CSM strain limits can be used in conjunction with advanced analysis for the stability design of members, for hand calculations, the method is currently limited to the determination of cross-sectional resistance only, i.e. member buckling resistance is not covered. To address this limitation, extension of the CSM to the design of stainless steel tubular section columns is presented herein. The proposed approach is based on the traditional Ayrton-Perry formulation, but features enhanced CSM cross-section resistances and a generalized imperfection parameter that is a function of cross-section slenderness. The value of the imperfection parameter increases as the slenderness of the cross-section reduces to compensate for the detrimental effect of plasticity on member stability that is not directly captured in the elastic/first yield Ayrton-Perry approach. The accuracy of the proposed approach is assessed against numerical results generated in the current study and existing experimental results collected from the literature. The presented comparisons show that the CSM provides consistently more accurate member buckling resistance predictions than the current EN 1993-1-4 design rules for all stainless steel grades. The reliability of the proposed approach is demonstrated through statistical analyses performed in accordance with EN 1990. Finally, the paper presents a framework through which the proposed approach can be developed for other cross-section types and materials.

连续强度法（CSM）可为粗大和细长的不锈钢横截面提供准确的阻力预测；在前者的情况下，考虑到应变硬化的有益效果，而在后者的情况下，通过避免有效的宽度计算简化了设计。尽管CSM应变极限可以与高级分析结合使用，以进行构件的稳定性设计，但对于手工计算，该方法目前仅限于确定横截面阻力，即不包括构件的屈曲阻力。为了解决此限制，本文介绍了将CSM扩展到不锈钢管形截面塔的设计。提议的方法基于传统的Ayrton-Perry公式，但具有增强的CSM横截面电阻和广义的缺陷参数，该参数是横截面细长的函数。缺陷参数的值随着横截面的细长度的减小而增加，以补偿可塑性对构件稳定性的不利影响，而弹性/第一屈服力Ayrton-Perry方法并未直接捕获这种不利影响。根据当前研究中产生的数值结果以及从文献中收集的现有实验结果，评估了所提出方法的准确性。所提供的比较结果表明，与当前所有不锈钢等级的EN 1993-1-4设计规则相比，CSM能够始终如一地提供准确的构件屈曲阻力预测。