Effects of boundary conditions and chord stresses on static strength of thick-walled CHS K-joints

This paper presents results from a systematic investigation on the static strength of thick-walled circular hollow section (CHS) K-joints with various boundary constraints and chord axial stresses. The effects of boundary conditions appear to be critical if the boundary constraints alter the chord stress level. A K-joint with unconstrained brace ends is observed to indicate a rapid decrease in the post-peak joint strength. For a joint with members (brace and chord) of sufficient length, the member end fixities impose marginal effects on the joint strength. It is found that displacement-controlled loads on an isolated K-joint provide a realistic representation of the load distribution of a K-joint within a tubular frame. A definition in terms of maximum chord stress ratio for a new chord stress function for K-joints is found to minimize the scatter with respect to variations in the joint geometry.     

Numerical investigation on stress concentration factors of square bird-beak SHS T-joints subject to axial forces

This paper presents a numerical study on stress concentration square bird-beak square hollow section (SHS) welded joints. Both conventional and square bird-beak SHS joints considered have T-shapes and are simply supported at their chord ends. Refined finite element models are developed to obtain the strain/stress concentration factors (SNCFs/SCFs) of square bird-beak joints with various dimensions. The FE models are validated by comparing with the experimental data. The SNCF differences among considered hot spots are analyzed for the identification of critical locations. The influences of three major non-dimensional parameters, i.e., brace/chord width ratio β, chord wall slenderness ratio 2γ, and brace/chord wall thickness ratio τ, on the stress concentration factors (SCFs) of square bird-beak T-joints are revealed on the basis of numerous parametric studies. Comparisons of joint types are finally made. The results indicate that, in case of identical non-dimensional parameters, square bird-beak SHS T-joints provide SCFs smaller than conventional SHS T-joints in most occasions, especially when β is small; and SCFs of square bird-beak T-joints are expected to be lower than CHS T-joints with small β and large 2γ and τ.     

Experimental investigation of cold-formed stainless steel tubular T-joints

This paper describes a test program on a wide range of cold-formed stainless steel welded tubular T-joints fabricated from square and rectangular hollow section brace and chord members. A total of 22 tests was performed. High strength stainless steel (duplex and high strength austenitic) and normal strength stainless steel (AISI 304) specimens were tested. The tests were performed by supporting the chord member of the specimen along its entire length with the pure concentrated force applied to the chord face by the brace member. The ratio of brace width to chord width (β) of the specimens varied from 0.5 to 1.0 so that failure modes of chord face failure and chord side wall failure were observed. The test results were compared with the design procedures in the Australian/New Zealand Standard for stainless steel structures, CIDECT and Eurocode design rules for carbon steel structures. It is shown that the design strengths predicted by the current design specifications are conservative for the test specimens calculated using the 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.5% and 1.0% proof stresses as the yield stresses. The 0.2% proof stress is comparatively more reasonable to predict the design strengths of stainless steel welded tubular T-joints for both ultimate limit state and serviceability limit state. In this study, it is shown that the ultimate limit state controls rather than the serviceability limit state for most of the test specimens.     

Experimental investigation and design of round ended elliptical steel tubular T-joints under axial compression

圆端形椭圆钢管是一种融合圆形和矩形截面特征优势的构件，其圆端部分可以提供良好约束，矩形部分可实现快捷连接，在桁架结构中有着良好的应用前景，然而目前尚缺乏有关圆端形椭圆钢管相贯节点的受力性能研究。为此，通过对13根圆端形椭圆钢管T形相贯节点开展轴压性能试验，研究相贯类型、主支管径比、主支管夹角和是否填充混凝土等对其破坏模式、承载力、初始刚度和延性等力学性能的影响，明确圆端形椭圆钢管T形相贯节点在支管受压作用下相较圆形或矩形钢管相贯节点的承载特征差异，揭示相贯节点的受力机理，提出圆端形椭圆钢管相贯节点的轴压承载力计算式。研究结果表明，圆端形椭圆钢管T形相贯节点表现出良好的轴压性能；支管与主管圆弧段连接的相贯节点轴压承载力分别为圆形或矩形钢管相贯节点的1.07~1.66倍，具有明显的承载优势；主管填充混凝土可使圆端形椭圆钢管T形相贯节点的轴压承载力和初始刚度分别提高75.5%~103.4%和11.9%~60.6%；通过试验结果验证，提出的轴压承载力计算式可较准确地评估圆端形椭圆钢管T形相贯节点的轴压承载力。     

圆端形椭圆钢管T形相贯节点轴压性能试验研究与承载力计算

圆端形椭圆钢管是一种融合圆形和矩形截面特征优势的构件,其圆端部分可以提供良好约束,矩形部分可实现快捷连接,在桁架结构中有着良好的应用前景,然而目前尚缺乏有关圆端形椭圆钢管相贯节点的受力性能研究。为此,通过对13根圆端形椭圆钢管T形相贯节点开展轴压性能试验,研究相贯类型、主支管径比、主支管夹角和是否填充混凝土等对其破坏模式、承载力、初始刚度和延性等力学性能的影响,明确圆端形椭圆钢管T形相贯节点在支管受压作用下相较圆形或矩形钢管相贯节点的承载特征差异,揭示相贯节点的受力机理,提出圆端形椭圆钢管相贯节点的轴压承载力计算式。研究结果表明,圆端形椭圆钢管T形相贯节点表现出良好的轴压性能;支管与主管圆弧段连接的相贯节点轴压承载力分别为圆形或矩形钢管相贯节点的1.07～1.66倍,具有明显的承载优势;主管填充混凝土可使圆端形椭圆钢管T形相贯节点的轴压承载力和初始刚度分别提高75.5%～103.4%和11.9%～60.6%;通过试验结果验证,提出的轴压承载力计算式可较准确地评估圆端形椭圆钢管T形相贯节点的轴压承载力。     

体外预应力加固桥梁锚固结构的细部分析

以南宁市邕江大桥体外预应力加固工程为背景,采用空间有限元分析方法,对锚固在原结构一般梁截面的锚固结构进行细部分析,根据获得的空间应力分布特点,考虑采用槽钢、螺纹钢和钢筋层对锚固结构进行局部加固的构造措施,分析表明：在锚固结构与原结构交接部位设置槽钢、螺纹钢,能有效地降低该位置混凝土的应力集中,使得应力分布趋于均匀,局部应力满足规范限值要求。同时,工程实践表明,该有限元细部分析方法较为符合实际锚固结构的受力特点,其计算结果和局部加固的构造措施,可作为同类体外预应力加固桥梁锚固结构设计和施工的重要参考。     

Tests of concrete-filled stainless steel tubular T-joints

This paper describes a test program on a wide range of concrete-filled cold-formed stainless steel tubular T-joints fabricated from square hollow section (SHS) and rectangular hollow section (RHS) brace and chord members. A total of 27 tests was performed. The chord member of the test specimen was filled with concrete along its full length. Both high strength stainless steel (duplex and high strength austenitic) and normal strength stainless steel (AISI 304) specimens filled with nominal concrete cylinder strength of 30 MPa were tested. The axial compression force was applied to the top end of the brace member, which was welded to the center of the chord member. Local buckling failure of brace member was the main failure mode observed during the tests. Hence, the axial compression force was then applied by means of a steel bearing plate to avoid failure of brace member. The failure modes of chord face failure and chord side wall failure as well as crushing of the concrete infill were observed. All the tests were performed by supporting the chord member of the specimen along its entire length to apply the pure concentrated force without any bending moment. The test results were also compared with design rules for carbon steel tubular structures, which is the only existing design guideline for concrete-filled tubular joints. It is shown that the design strengths predicted by the current design rules are quite conservative for the test specimens. It is also recommended that the contribution of stainless steel tubes should be included in the design rules since it has significant effects on the ultimate bearing capacity of concrete-filled stainless steel tubular T-joints.     

Static strength of doubler plate reinforced CHS X-joints loaded by in-plane bending

In offshore platforms, doubler plates are used to facilitate field installation of auxiliary structural components to the main structure. Recent research on the static strength of axially loaded doubler plate reinforced Circular Hollow Section (CHS) T- and X-joints showed that appropriately proportioned plates can significantly improve the joint strength. This paper extends the numerical study to doubler plate reinforced CHS X-joints subjected to in-plane bending through systematic variation of the main geometric parameters. The load transferring mechanisms and failure modes of such joints, with different doubler plate size and thickness, are investigated and compared to corresponding un-reinforced joints. Within the range of geometric parameters investigated, the doubler plate is observed to provide strength enhancement up to 240% for the corresponding un-reinforced joint. Strength equations are established using the computed results for assessment of the static strength of doubler plate reinforced X-joints, and design recommendations are provided for this joint type.     

Static strength of collar plate reinforced CHS X-joints loaded by in-plane bending

This paper presents the collar plate reinforcement scheme to strengthen a Circular Hollow Section (CHS) X-joint, applicable for a fabricated joint which is subsequently found to be under-strength. The parametric numerical study on the static strength of collar plate reinforced X-joints loaded by in-plane bending is complementary to the study on doubler plate reinforced joints as reported in the companion paper. The load transferring mechanisms and failure modes of these reinforced joints are investigated and compared. From the range of geometric parameters investigated, the collar plate reinforcement is found to be more effective than its doubler plate counterpart to improve the static strength of the joints. Based on the numerical results, strength equations are established to estimate the static strength of collar plate reinforced X-joints.     

Hysteretic behaviour of square tubular T-joints with chord reinforcement under axial cyclic loading

The stiffness of hollow section tubular joints is weak in the chord radial direction, and thus failure frequently occurs at the weld toe in the form of brittle fracture caused by crack propagation due to cyclic loading. To avoid such brittle failure, the chord at the intersection can be reinforced by increasing the chord thickness. With the chord reinforced, the failure position can be transferred to the chord intersection, and hence the cracking along the weld toe is prevented. To verify the efficiency of the proposed reinforcing method, both experimental test and finite element analysis are carried out on reinforced and un-reinforced square tubular T-joints subjected to quasi-static cyclic loads. The hysteretic curves, ductility ratio, energy dissipation and failure mode of the two full-scale specimens are studied experimentally, and it is found that the hysteretic curves of both specimens are plump, which show the T-joints can absorb much energy when they are subjected to seismic action. However, the enclosed area of the hysteretic curves of the reinforced T-joint is larger than that of the un-reinforced specimen because the chord reinforcement can prevent the fracture failure as well as improving the bearing capacity. The failure performance of the reinforced and un-reinforced specimens also show that a T-joint with chord reinforcement is more advantageous in resisting seismic action. Finally, the effect of the reinforced chord length and thickness on the hysteretic behaviour of square tubular T-joints is also investigated from a parametric study.     

矩形钢管和矩形钢管混凝土T形不等宽受拉节点 轴向刚度

为获得T形节点轴向刚度简化计算公式,根据节点受力特点,提出了适用于矩形钢管节点的平面框架模型和适用于矩形钢管混凝土节点的固端梁模型,并推导得到了2类节点的节点轴向刚度理论公式; 运用有限元方法对节点轴向刚度理论公式中的节点域有效长度l_eff进行参数分析,拟合得到l_eff简化计算公式; 将节点轴向刚度理论公式与试验及有限元结果进行了对比,并分析了主管内填混凝土对节点轴向刚度的影响。结果表明:主管高宽比和主管宽厚比对l_eff的影响较小,不予考虑; l_eff与主管宽度和支管高宽比均呈线性关系,且随之增大而增大; l_eff与支主管宽度比β呈非线性关系,且随之增大而减小; 2类节点的轴向刚度理论公式计算结果与试验结果及有限元结果均吻合较好; 主管内填混凝土可以提高节点轴向刚度,提高系数k_c/h随着主管高宽比的增大而增大,随着β的增大呈现先增大后减小的规律,且当β=0.6～0.7时提高最大。     

Hysteretic behaviour of tubular T-joints reinforced with doubler plates after fire exposure

The hysteretic behaviour of tubular T-joints reinforced with doubler plates was experimentally and numerically investigated in this study. Two specimens were tested to failure under cyclic axial load at the brace end, one under ambient temperature and the other after fire exposure. Specimens with identical material and geometric properties were compared. The failure modes of the specimens were cracking along the weld toe at the intersection of the plate and brace. The results indicated that the hysteretic behaviour and energy dissipation of the joint after fire exposure were smaller than those at ambient temperature. The finite element package ABAQUS was then used to simulate the joint specimens. In a comparison of the hysteretic curve, skeleton curve, energy dissipation and failure location, the simulation and experimental results were in good agreement. The finite element method was subsequently used to carry out a parametric study. Parameters τ and ε had little influence on the post-fire hysteretic behaviour of the joint, but joints with a large γ or small α, β, or ξ values had a low capacity for hysteretic behaviour after fire exposure.     

Design of cold-formed stainless steel tubular T- and X-joints

This paper describes the numerical investigation of cold-formed stainless steel tubular T-joints, X-joints and X-joints with chord preload using finite element analysis. The stainless steel joints were fabricated from square hollow section (SHS) and rectangular hollow section (RHS) brace and chord members. The geometric and material nonlinearities of stainless steel tubular joints were carefully incorporated in the finite element models. The joint strengths, failure modes as well as load-deformation curves of stainless steel tubular joints were obtained from the numerical analysis. The nonlinear finite element models were calibrated against experimental results of cold-formed stainless steel SHS and RHS tubular T- and X-joints. Good agreement between the experimental and finite element analysis results was achieved. Therefore, an extensive parametric study of 172 T- and X-joints was then carried out using the verified finite element models to evaluate the effects of the strength and behaviour of cold-formed stainless steel tubular joints. The joint strengths obtained from the parametric study and tests were compared with the current design strengths calculated using the Australian/New Zealand Standard for stainless steel structures, CIDECT and Eurocode design rules for carbon steel tubular structures. Furthermore, design formulae of cold-formed stainless steel tubular T- and X-joints are proposed. A reliability analysis was performed to assess the reliability of the current and proposed design rules. It is shown that the design strengths calculated using the proposed equations are generally more accurate and reliable than those calculated using the current design rules.     

冷弯不锈钢管T型及X型节点设计

采用有限元方法,对冷弯不锈钢方管、矩形管支撑和弦杆中的T型、X型及预应力X型节点进行数值分析。考虑几何非线性和材料非线性,获得节点承载力、破坏模式及荷载-位移曲线。利用试验结果,对T型、X型矩形管、方管节点的非线性有限元模型进行修正,直到有限元结果和试验结果足够吻合。采用修正后的有限元模型对172个T型、X型节点进行参数分析,研究冷弯不锈钢管节点强度和性能的影响。将数值分析和试验中获得的节点承载力与按规范计算的设计承载力进行对比。对不锈钢管结构,采用澳大利亚规范、新西兰规范计算;对碳素钢管结构,采用国际管结构发展与研究委员会设计规范和欧洲设计规范计算。通过可靠性分析,分别评价本文提出的设计方法和现有规范的可靠度。结果表明:采用本文方法计算的设计承载力更准确、更可靠。     

超1m直径加劲焊接空心球节点的抗拉极限承载力研究

跨越输电钢管塔中采用了直径超过1m的加肋焊接空心球节点,其承载力计算不满足规范适用条件。论文在具有不同设计参数球节点的有限元建模基础上,进行了节点抗拉有限元分析计算。通过分析破坏模式,讨论了加劲肋在球节点抗拉承载力中的贡献,获得了能反映加劲肋尺寸参数贡献的球节点抗拉承载力计算经验公式。并将经验公式和规范、试验、有限元计算结果进行了比较,表明经验公式可以有效地捕捉这类节点的抗拉极限承载力。     

Numerical analysis of piping elbows for in-plane bending and internal pressure

This work presents the development of two different finite piping elbow elements with two nodal tubular sections for mechanical analysis. The formulation is based on thin shell displacement theory, where the displacement is based on high-order polynomial or trigonometric functions for rigid-beam displacement, and uses Fourier series to model warping and ovalization phenomena of cross-tubular section. To model the internal pressure effect an additional formulation is used in the elementary stiffness matrix definition. Elbows attached to nozzle or straight pipes produce a stiffening effect due to the restraint of ovalization provided by the adjacent components. When submitted to any efforts, the excessive oval shape may reduce the structural resistance and can lead to structural collapse. For design tubular systems it is also important to consider the internal-pressure effect, given its effect on the reduction of the pipe flexibility. Some conclusions and examples are compared with results produced by other authors.     

Numerical study and design of skewed X-type branch plate-to-circular hollow section connections

Structural systems, including space-frames, cable stayed roof systems and bridges, with elements that intersect at non-orthogonal angles necessitating rotated and complex connection geometries, have become commonplace. Non-orthogonal plate-to-circular hollow section (CHS) connections with branch members rotated about their own axis (skewed) have been absent in international literature and design guidelines. A numerical finite element parametric study is presented on the behaviour of skewed X-type plate-to-CHS connections loaded under branch plate tension. A total of 91 connections with wide-ranging values of geometric properties were modelled and analysed using commercially available finite element software. The numerical finite element analysis indicated a smooth sigmoidal (S-shaped) transition between longitudinal and transverse orthogonal extremes. A non-linear interpolation function was developed, for application between longitudinal and transverse design recommendations, that adequately predicts skewed connection behaviour over a wide range of geometric connection configurations. A partial design strength function for skewed X-type plate-to-CHS, which builds on existing design recommendations for non-skewed plate connections, is hence proposed with lower bound reduction (resistance) factors.     

球头加劲铝合金轴压构件的局部稳定设计方法分析

工程中常采用对铝合金截面设置球头加劲肋的方法来提高受压构件的稳定性能,为了研究球头的设置对局部稳定承载力的影响,对包含球头的8个方管、10个十字形和13个工字形截面轴压柱模型进行了数值模拟,将得到的承载力与我国GB 50429—2007《铝合金结构设计规范》、欧洲规范EN 1999-1-1和美国铝合金设计手册中对含加劲肋的受压构件局部稳定承载力预测值进行比较,研究了各规范中设计方法的精度。结果表明,我国规范对于十字形截面构件的预测误差有随板件宽厚比增大而增大的趋势,对方管截面和工字形截面构件预测精度较高,误差在10%以内,由于存在一些构件预测偏于不安全的情况,建议采用我国规范方法计算中间加劲板件的稳定承载力时,引入一定的安全系数。设置球头加劲肋后,构件局部稳定承载力相比未设加劲肋的可提高10%～43%,因此可将板件制作得更薄,提高利用效率。     

Numerical modelling of the axial compressive behaviour of short concrete-filled elliptical steel columns

This paper investigates the axial compressive behaviour of short concrete-filled elliptical steel columns using the ABAQUS/Standard solver, and a new confined concrete stress-stain model for the concrete-filled elliptical steel hollow section is proposed. The accuracy of the simulation and the concrete stress-strain model was verified experimentally. The stub columns tested consist of 150 × 75 elliptical hollow sections (EHSs) with three different wall thicknesses (4 mm, 5 mm and 6.3 mm) and concrete grades C30, C60 and C100. The compressive behaviour, which includes the ultimate load capacity, load versus end-shortening relationship and failure modes, were obtained from the numerical models and compared against the experimental results, and good agreements were obtained. This indicated that the proposed model could be used to predict the compressive characteristics of short concrete-filled elliptical steel columns.     

Flexural strength of tubular flange girders

A tubular flange girder is an I-shaped steel girder with either rectangular or round tubes as flanges. A tubular flange girder has a much larger torsional stiffness than a conventional I-shaped plate girder of similar weight, which results in a much larger lateral-torsional buckling strength. Finite element (FE) models of tubular flange girders with hollow tubes (HTFGs) are developed in this paper, considering material inelasticity, instability, initial geometric imperfections, and residual stresses. A parametric study is performed using the FE models to study the effects of stiffeners, geometric imperfections, residual stresses, cross section dimensions, and bending moment distribution on the lateral-torsional buckling flexural strength of HTFGs. These analytical results are used to evaluate formulas for determining the flexural strength of HTFGs.