Aluminum alloy tubular columns—Part II: Parametric study and design using direct strength method

A parametric study of aluminum alloy columns of square and rectangular hollow sections was performed using finite element analysis (FEA). The columns were compressed between fixed ends. The parametric study included 120 columns with and without transverse welds at the ends of the columns. An accurate and reliable finite element model was used for the parametric study. Design approaches for aluminum alloy tubular columns with and without transverse welds were proposed. Column strengths predicted by the FEA were compared with the design strengths calculated using the current American, Australian/New Zealand and European specifications for aluminum structures. In addition, the direct strength method (DSM), which was developed for cold-formed carbon steel members, was used in this study for aluminum alloy columns. The design strengths calculated using the DSM were compared with the numerical results. Furthermore, design rules modified from the DSM were proposed. It is shown that the proposed design rules accurately predicted the ultimate strengths of aluminum welded and non-welded columns. The reliability of the current and proposed design rules was evaluated using reliability analysis.     

Aluminum alloy tubular columns—Part I: Finite element modeling and test verification

A numerical investigation on fixed-ended aluminum alloy tubular columns of square and rectangular hollow sections is described in this paper. The fixed-ended column tests were conducted that included columns with both ends transversely welded to aluminum end plates using the tungsten inert gas welding method, and columns without welding of end plates. The specimens were extruded from aluminum alloy of 6061-T6 and 6063-T5. The failure modes included local buckling, flexural buckling, interaction of local and flexural buckling, as well as failure in the heat-affected zone (HAZ). An accurate finite element model (FEM) was developed. The initial local and overall geometric imperfections were incorporated in the model. The non-welded and welded material nonlinearities were considered in the analysis. The welded columns were modeled having different HAZ extension at the ends of the column of 25 and 30 mm. The nonlinear FEM was verified against experimental results. It is shown that the calibrated model provides accurate predictions of the experimental loads and failure modes of the tested columns. The load-shortening curves predicted by the finite element analysis are also compared with the test results.     

中空夹层钢管混凝土轴压短柱火灾后剩余承载力的试验研究

对6个中空夹层钢管混凝土轴压短柱开展试验研究,试验的主要参数是截面形式(圆套圆、方套方和方套圆)以及受火与否。试验结果表明,受火后中空夹层钢管混凝土轴压短柱的承载力下降显著。在空心率相同的情况下,方套圆截面形式的试件其剩余承载力最高,而圆套圆截面形式的试件其延性最好。同时还可以发现,火灾后中空夹层钢管混凝土的轴压承载力下降幅度与传统的实心钢管混凝土接近。     

Nonlinear analysis of concrete-filled steel SHS and RHS columns

This paper presents an accurate nonlinear finite element model for the behaviour and design of axially loaded concrete-filled square hollow section (SHS) and rectangular hollow section (RHS) steel tube columns. The nonlinear material models for confined concrete and steel tubes were carefully modeled in the finite element analysis. The column strengths and load-axial shortening curves were evaluated. The results obtained from the finite element analysis were verified against experimental results. An extensive parametric study was conducted to investigate the effects of different concrete strengths and cross-section geometries on the strength and behaviour of concrete-filled SHS and RHS steel tube columns. The study was conducted over a wide range of concrete cube strengths ranged from 30 to 110 MPa. The overall depth of the steel tube-to-plate thickness ratio ranged from 10 to 40 covering compact SHS and RHS steel tube sections. The column strengths predicted from the finite element analysis were compared with the design strengths calculated using the American, Australian and European specifications. Based on the results obtained from the parametric study, it is found that the design strengths calculated using the American Specifications and Australian Standards are conservative, while the design strengths calculated using the European Code are accurate, except for the concrete-filled RHS compact steel tube columns having the overall depth of the steel tube-to-plate thickness ratio of 40.     

中空夹层钢管混凝土短柱的性能分析

对外管为方形中空截面或者圆形中空截面,内管为圆形中空截面的夹层钢管混凝土短柱的抗压性能进行了有限元分析。通过与一系列由不同研究者进行的试验数据进行对比,以证实有限元建模的有效性。归纳了平均应力与纵向应变的典型曲线、混凝土应力曲线、混凝土和钢管的交互曲线以及空心率对CFDST短柱性能的影响。对影响复合柱截面性能的重要参数也进行了分析。     

Analytical behaviour of concrete-filled double skin steel tubular (CFDST) stub columns

This paper reports a finite element analysis of the compressive behaviour of CFDST stub columns with SHS (square hollow section) or CHS (circular hollow section) outer tube and CHS inner tube. A set of test data reported by different researchers were used to verify the FE modelling. Typical curves of average stress versus longitudinal strain, stress distributions of concrete, interaction of concrete and steel tubes, as well as effects of hollow ratio on the behaviour of CFDST stub columns, were presented. The influences of important parameters that determine sectional capacities of the composite columns were investigated.     

Experimental and numerical investigations of high strength steel welded h-section columns

This paper reports experimental and numerical investigations of high strength steel columns. A series of tests was performed on different geometries of welded H-sections fabricated from high strength steel sheet with a nominal yield stress of 460 MPa. A non-linear finite element model which includes geometric and material non-linearities was developed and verified against experimental results of high strength steel welded H-section columns. The calibrated model was shown to provide accurate predictions of the experimental ultimate loads and failure modes of the test specimens. Therefore, a parametric study was carried out over a range of cross-section geometries and column lengths. The test and numerical results of stub columns obtained in this study were compared with the nominal section capacities. It is shown that the design provisions specified in the European Code, American Specification and Chinese Code on yield slenderness limits are all conservative. The normalized flange and web slenderness limits for fully effective section codified in European Code are very close to those codified in the American Specification, which are more suitable. Furthermore, the test and numerical results of long columns obtained in this study were compared with the nominal member capacities predicted using the European Code, American Specification and Chinese Code for steel structures. It is shown that the European Code provides the best agreement between the test and numerical data with design strength predictions for high strength steel welded H-section long columns.     

Experimental investigation and design of aluminum columns with longitudinal welds

This paper presents an experimental investigation of longitudinally welded aluminum alloy I-section columns subjected to pure axial compression. The specimens were fabricated using 6061-T6 heat-treated aluminum alloy. The test program included 20 column tests which were separated into 2 test series of different types of welding sections. Each test series contained 10 columns. All the specimens were welded using the Tungsten Inert Gas welding method. The length of the specimens ranged from 442 to 2433 mm in order to obtain a column curve for each test series. The observed failure mode for the column tests includes mainly flexural buckling around the minor axis and the major axis by applying support except for one column (ZP1217-1) which buckled in the local zone and some columns which failed in the weld. The test strengths were compared with the design strengths predicted by the European Code and China Code for aluminum structures. The purpose of this paper is to present the tests results of two typically longitudinally welded I-section columns, and to check the accuracy of the design rules in the current specifications.     

铝合金工形截面短柱轴压局部稳定试验研究

为研究铝合金工形截面轴压构件的局部稳定性能,对15根工程中常用大截面铝合金6061-T6和6063-T5轴压短柱试件进行试验研究,并对12组48个材性试样进行拉伸试验。研究了材料的力学性能、试件的局部几何初始缺陷、变形性能、局部屈曲荷载、轴压承载力等,并将试验结果与各国规范中设计方法计算结果进行对比。试验结果表明：铝合金6061-T6强度与普通钢材相当,但延性较差;铝合金挤压型材的局部几何初始缺陷很小,远小于规范中给定数值;板件宽厚比越大,局部屈曲发生越早,破坏时材料的强度越得不到充分发挥,但是局部屈曲后材料强度仍有较大的提高;翼缘和腹板之间存在相互作用;中国规范、欧洲规范、美国规范和澳大利亚/新西兰规范均低估了试件的轴压承载力,其中美国规范计算结果与试验结果最接近。因此,对于板件宽厚比大的试件,应充分利用其屈曲后强度,各国规范得到的承载力计算结果均较保守。     

外方内圆中空夹层钢管混凝土轴压短柱的极限承载力

在厚壁圆筒统一强度理论解的基础上,根据外方内圆中空夹层钢管混凝土的特点,通过引入混凝土强度折减系数和等效约束折减系数,将外方内圆中空夹层钢管混凝土等效为外圆内圆中空夹层钢管混凝土,推导了外方内圆中空夹层钢管混凝土轴压短柱的极限承载力公式,并将该公式的计算结果与文献试验结果进行了比较。结果表明:该理论公式是正确可行的,该结果为外方内圆中空夹层钢管混凝土轴压短柱的极限承载力分析提供了理论依据,对工程设计有一定的参考价值。     

钢管混凝土柱-钢梁平面框架抗震性能的试验研究

为了探讨钢管混凝土柱-钢梁平面框架的抗震性能,本文进行了12个框架试件在恒定轴力和水平反复荷载作用下的试验研究,主要考察了柱截面形状(圆形、方形)、含钢率(圆形:α=0.06,0.103;方形:α=0.125,0.126)、柱轴压比(圆形:n=0.06~0.60;方形:n=0.04~0.60)、梁柱线刚度比(圆形:i=0.36~0.58;方形:i=0.34~0.62)等参数对其力学性能的影响。试验结果表明:钢管混凝土柱-钢梁框架滞回曲线较为饱满,强度和刚度退化不明显;柱轴压比和含钢率对框架的承载力和抗震性能影响较大,随着轴压比的增大,框架的水平极限承载力下降,位移延性和耗能能力降低,而含钢率影响规律则相反;圆形截面柱框架抗震性能整体上优于方形截面柱框架。按照《钢管混凝土结构技术规程》(DBJ13—51—2003)设计的钢管混凝土框架能够满足结构抗震设计要求。     

纵向焊接铝合金压杆承载力研究

大多数结构用铝合金通常要经过热处理或加工硬化以改善其力学性能。当这种合金焊接后除了产生残余应力外,在焊缝附近还将产生强度明显降低的热影响区(HAZ)。而对于钢结构,由于其热导率比铝材小得多,因此只有高强钢才可能产生强度降低的热影响区,而且其强度的降低没有铝合金显著,热影响区的宽度也比铝合金小得多。这将使得铝合金受压杆件的屈曲性能变得更为复杂。对贴角焊和剖口焊这两种焊接方式的工字型铝合金中心受压杆件进行试验研究,并将试验结果同即将颁布的国标《铝合金结构设计规范》(送审稿)及欧洲规范9(EC9)进行比较。结果表明,通常情况下,对于贴角焊构件,规范结果与试验结果吻合较好;而对于剖口焊构件,规范结果偏保守。     

纵向焊接铝合金柱设计方法研究

大多数结构用铝合金通常要经过热处理或加工硬化以得到比退火状态更高的力学性能。这种合金焊接后,焊接热会使焊缝附近局部区域(称为热影响区HAZ)强度降低。而对于钢结构,由于其热导率比铝材小得多,因此只有高强钢才可能产生强度降低的热影响区,而且其强度的降低没有铝合金显著,热影响区宽度也比铝合金小得多。这将使焊接铝合金柱的设计变得更为复杂。由于我国目前还没有关于铝合金结构的设计规范,为此本文通过试验研究及对已有试验数据的分析,并参考国外规范,提出了纵向焊接铝合金柱设计方法的建议,并将计算结果与试验结果进行比较,两者吻合较好,从而验证了建议设计公式的适用性。     

Experimental study on compressive strengths of thick-walled cold-formed sections

This paper describes an experimental study on the compressive strengths of cold-formed thick-walled steel sections. A total of 18 stub columns with plate thickness ranging from 8 to 12 mm were tested to determine the section capacities of the cold-formed thick-walled steel columns. Material properties were obtained from flat and corner tensile coupon tests. Effects of cold forming on material properties were investigated. The stub column test strengths were compared with the design compressive strengths specified by the Australian/New Zealand and Chinese standards for cold-formed steel structures. It has been shown that the design strengths predicted by these two standards using material properties obtained from the flat coupon tests are quite conservative, while the design strengths based on the average design yield stress of the full section are less conservative.     

Behaviour of normal and high strength concrete-filled compact steel tube circular stub columns

This paper presents the behaviour and design of axially loaded concrete-filled steel tube circular stub columns. The study was conducted over a wide range of concrete cube strengths ranging from 30 to 110 MPa. The external diameter of the steel tube-to-plate thickness (D/t) ratio ranged from 15 to 80 covering compact steel tube sections. An accurate finite element model was developed to carry out the analysis. Accurate nonlinear material models for confined concrete and steel tubes were used. The column strengths and load-axial shortening curves were evaluated. The results obtained from the finite element analysis were verified against experimental results. An extensive parametric study was conducted to investigate the effects of different concrete strengths and cross-section geometries on the strength and behaviour of concrete-filled compact steel tube circular stub columns. The column strengths predicted from the finite element analysis were compared with the design strengths calculated using the American, Australian and European specifications. Based on the results of the parametric study, it is found that the design strengths given by the American Specifications and Australian Standards are conservative, while those of the European Code are generally unconservative. Reliability analysis was performed to evaluate the current composite column design rules.     

焊接铝合金压杆屈曲性能试验研究

铝合金焊接后除了产生残余应力外,在焊缝附近还将产生强度明显降低的热影响区。对贴角焊和剖口焊两种焊接方式的工字型铝合金中心受压杆件进行了试验研究,并将试验结果同即将颁布的国标《铝合金结构设计规范》及欧洲规范进行了比较。研究表明,通常情况下,对于贴角焊构件,规范结果和试验结果吻合较好;而对于剖口焊构件,规范结果偏保守。     

Concrete-filled double skin (SHS outer and CHS inner) steel tubular beam-columns

A series of tests on concrete-filled double skin steel tubular (CFDST) stub columns (14), beams (four) and beam-columns (12) were carried out. The specimens had square hollow section (SHS) as outer skin and circular hollow section (CHS) as inner skin. A mechanics model is developed in this paper for the CFDST stub columns, columns and beam-columns. A unified theory is described where a confinement factor (ξ) is introduced to describe the composite action between the steel tubes and the sandwiched concrete. The load versus axial strain relationship for CFDST stub columns is predicted. Simplified model is derived for section capacities of CFDST. The predicted beam-column strength is compared with that obtained in beam and beam-column tests. The load versus mid-span deflection relationship for CFDST beams and beam-columns is predicted. A simplified model is developed for calculating the member capacity of the CFDST beams. Simplified interaction curves are derived for CFDST beam-columns.     

Load-carrying capacity of high-strength steel box-sections I: Stub columns

To study the load-carrying capacity of thin-walled box-section stub columns fabricated by high strength steel 18Mn2CrMoBA, uniaxial compression experiments of specimens with different geometrical dimensions were carried out. Compared with the predicted values by the AISI Code, the tested load-carrying capacities of the stub columns are much greater, which suggests that the existing effective width method should not be applicable for high strength steel stub columns. The finite element analysis based on ANSYS code was employed to simulate the deformation curves and predict the load-carrying capacities. The numerical values were generally in good agreement with the experimental values. Parameter analysis was performed to investigate the ultimate strength of the high strength steel stub column. The values obtained indicate that the width-thickness ratio of the flange and the section side ratio should be the main factors to decide the ultimate strength of the stub column. Taking the width-thickness ratio and the section side ratio as parameters, a formula to predict the loading capacity of the high strength steel stub column was put forward and proved to be effective by the tested and numerical values.     

Tests on concrete filled double-skin (CHS outer and SHS inner) composite short columns under axial compression

This paper presents stub columns tests on concrete-filled double skin sandwich tubes (CFDT) constructed using cold-formed steel tubes. The annulus is filled with micro high-strength concrete having compressive cylinder strength of 64 MPa. The outer skin is made of circular hollow sections (CHS), while the inner skin is made of square hollow sections (SHS). Eight different section sizes were used for the outer skin with diameter-to-thickness ratio ranging from 19 to 55. Three section sizes were chosen for the inner skin with width-to-thickness ratio in the range of 20 to 26. The CFDT construction was found to have significant increase in strength, ductility and energy absorption over the outer jacket. A simplified formula is derived to determine the compressive capacity of CFDT and compared against the current design rules. The proposed formula was found in good agreement with experimental results. This paper also verifies the yield slenderness limit (λ_ey) of 82 specified in AS 4100 for cold-formed CHS stub columns.     

Buckling analysis of high strength stainless steel stiffened and unstiffened slender hollow section columns

This paper investigates the buckling behaviour of cold-formed high strength stainless steel stiffened and unstiffened slender square and rectangular hollow section columns. The high strength duplex material is austenitic-ferritic stainless steel approximately equivalent to EN 1.4462 and UNS S31803. The columns were compressed between fixed ends at different column lengths. A nonlinear finite element model has been developed to investigate the behaviour of stiffened slender square and rectangular hollow section columns. The column strengths, load-shortening curves as well as failure modes were predicted for the stiffened and unstiffened slender hollow section columns. An extensive parametric study was conducted to study the effects of cross-section geometries on the strength and behaviour of the stiffened and unstiffened columns. The investigation has shown that the high strength stainless steel stiffened slender hollow section columns offer a considerable increase in the column strength over that of the unstiffened slender hollow section columns. The column strengths predicted from the parametric study were compared with the design strengths calculated using the American Specification, Australian/New Zealand Standard and European Code for cold-formed stainless steel structures. It is shown that the design strengths obtained using the three specifications are generally conservative for the cold-formed stainless steel unstiffened slender square and rectangular hollow section columns, but slightly unconservative for the stiffened slender square and rectangular hollow section columns.