Branch Plate-to-Circular Hollow Structural Section Connections. I: Experimental Investigation and Finite-Element Modeling
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 138, Issue 8
Abstract
Although branch plate-to-circular hollow section (CHS) connections under branch axial load are simple to fabricate and cost-effective, they generally experience significant deformation at relatively low loads resulting in an imposed deformation limit. To increase the connection capacity, various stiffening methods such as use of ring stiffeners, grout filling, and “through plate” connections have been proposed. To determine the effectiveness of previously unstudied plate-to-CHS through plate connections, an experimental investigation consisting of 12 connections was undertaken. Additionally, the behavior of nonorthogonal or skewed connections and the effect of load sense were examined. The experimental study determined that through plate-to-CHS connection behavior can be obtained by algebraically combining the behavior of a -type branch plate-to-CHS connection in tension with another in compression. Moreover, the through plate connection increased the capacity by more than three times that of a branch plate connection loaded in compression. Finite-element (FE) models were constructed to replicate, and be compared with, the experimental connections to validate the use of FE modeling for a subsequent parametric study with the aim of expanding the scope of the experimental results database.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
Financial support was provided by CIDECT (Comité International pour le Développement et l’Etude de la Construction Tubulaire) Programme 5BS, the Steel Structures Education Foundation (SSEF), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and Ontario Graduate Scholarships in Science and Technology (OGSST). Circular hollow sections used in this project were provided by Atlas Tube Inc.; plate material was supplied by IPSCO Inc.; and construction grout was donated by Degussa. Fabrication of all plate-to-CHS experimental test specimens was provided by Walters Inc. (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada).
References
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). (2008). “Standard test methods for tension testing of metallic materials.” ASTM E8/E8M-08, West Conshohocken, PA.
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). (2010). “Standard specification for cold-formed welded and seamless carbon steel structural tubing in rounds and shapes.” ASTM A500/A500M-10, West Conshohocken, PA.
Ansys 11.0 [Computer software]. (2007). Cononsburg, PA, Ansys.
Aronofsky, J. (1951). “Evaluation of stress distribution in the symmetrical neck of flat tensile bars.” J. Appl. Mech., (3), 75–84.JAMCAV
Boresi, A. P., and Schmidt, R. J. (2003). Advanced mechanics of materials, 6th Ed., John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, NJ.
Canadian Standards Association (CSA). (2003). “Welded steel construction (metal arc welding).” CAN/CSA-W59-03, Toronto, Canada.
Canadian Standards Association (CSA). (2004). “General requirements for rolled or welded structural quality steel/ structural quality steel.” CAN/CSA-G40.20-04/G40.21-04, Toronto, Canada.
Choo, Y. S., Li, B. H., Liew, J. Y. R., van der Vegte, G. J., and Zettlemoyer, N. (1998). “Static strength of -joints reinforced with doubler or collar plates.” Proc., 8th Int. Symp. on Tubular Structures, A.A. Balkema, Singapore, 139–145.
Choo, Y. S., van der Vegte, G. J., Zettlemoyer, N., Li, B. H., and Liew, J. Y. R. (2005). “Static strength of -joints reinforced with doubler or collar plates. I: Experimental investigations.” J. Struct. Eng.JSENDH, 131(1), 119–128.
Comité Européen de Normalisation (CEN). (2005). “Eurocode 3: Design of steel structures. Part 1.8: Design of joints.” EN1993-1-8: 2005(E), Brussels, Belgium.
Davies, G., and Packer, J. A. (1982). “Predicting the strength of branch plate-RHS connections for punching shear.” Can. J. Civ. Eng., 9(3), 458–467.CJCEB8
Dier, A. F., and Lalani, M. (1998). “Guidelines on strengthening and repair of offshore structures.” Proc., 8th Int. Conf. on the Behaviour of Offshore Structures, Elsevier Science, Delft, The Netherlands.
Kosteski, N., and Packer, J. A. (2001a). “Experimental examination of branch plate-to-RHS member connection types.” Proc., 9th Int. Symp. on Tubular Structures, A.A. Balkema, Germany, Düsseldorf, 135–144.
Kosteski, N., and Packer, J. A. (2001b). “FEM evaluation of stiffened longitudinal branch plate-to-RHS member connections.” Proc., 9th Int. Symp. on Tubular Structures, A.A. Balkema, Düsseldorf, Germany, 145–154.
Kosteski, N., and Packer, J. A. (2003a). “Longitudinal plate and through plate-to-hollow structural section welded connections.” J. Struct. Eng.JSENDH, 129(4), 478–486.
Kosteski, N., and Packer, J. A. (2003b). “Welded tee-to-HSS connections.” J. Struct. Eng.JSENDH, 129(2), 151–159.
Kurobane, Y., Packer, J. A., Wardenier, J., and Yeomans, N. (2004). Design guide for structural hollow section column connections, CIDECT and Verlag TÜV Rheinland GmbH, Köln, Germany.
Lee, M. M. K., and Llewelyn-Parry, A. (1998). “Ultimate strength of ring stiffened -joints: A theoretical model.” Proc., 8th Int. Symp. on Tubular Structures, A.A. Balkema, Singapore, 147–156.
Lee, M. M. K., and Llewelyn-Parry, A. (2003). “Strength estimation of offshore ring-stiffened DT-joints.” Proc., 10th Int. Symp. on Tubular Structures, A.A. Balkema, Madrid, Spain, 245–252.
Lee, M. M. K., and Llewelyn-Parry, A. (2005). “Strength prediction for ring-stiffened DT-joints in offshore jacket structures.” Eng. Struct.ENSTDF, 27(3), 421–430.
Lu, L. H., de Winkel, G. D., Yu, Y., and Wardenier, J. (1994). “Deformation limit for the ultimate strength of hollow section joints.” Proc., 6th Int. Symp. on Tubular Structures, A.A. Balkema, Melbourne, Australia, 341–347.
Martinez-Saucedo, G., Packer, J. A., and Willibald, S. (2006). “Parametric finite element study of slotted end connections to circular hollow sections.” Eng. Struct.ENSTDF, 28(14), 1956–1971.
Matic, P. (1985). “Numerically predicting ductile material behavior from tensile specimen response.” Theor. Appl. Fract. Mech., 4(1), 13–28.TAFME4
Packer, J. A. (1995). “Concrete-filled HSS connections.” J. Struct. Eng.JSENDH, 121(3), 458–467.
Packer, J. A., Sherman, D. R., and Lecce, M. (2010). “Hollow structural section connections.” Steel Design Guide No. 24, American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), Chicago.
Rolloos, A. (1969). “The effective weld length of beam to column connections without stiffening plates.” Stevin Laboratory Report No. 6-69-7-HL, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands.
Thandavamoorthy, T. S., Rao Madhava, A. G., and Sanhankumar, A. R. (1999). “Behavior of internally ring-stiffened joints of offshore platforms.” J. Struct. Eng.JSENDH, 125(11), 1348–1352.
van der Vegte, G. J., Choo, Y. S., Liang, J. X., Zettlemoyer, N., and Liew, J. Y. R. (2005). “Static strength of -joints reinforced with doubler or collar plates. II: Numerical simulations.” J. Struct. Eng.JSENDH, 131(1), 129–138.
van der Vegte, G. J., and Makino, Y. (2006). “Ultimate strength formulation for axially loaded CHS uniplanar -joints.” Int. J. Offshore Polar Eng., 16(4), 305–312.IOPEE7
van der Vegte, G. J., and Makino, Y. (2007). “The effect of chord length and boundary conditions on the static strength of CHS —and -joints.” Proc., 5th Int. Conf. on Advances in Steel Structures (ICASS), Research Publishing Services, Singapore, 997–1002.
Voth, A. P. (2010). “Branch plate-to-circular hollow structural section connections.” Ph.D. thesis, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Wardenier, J., Davies, G., and Stolle, P. (1981). “The effective width of branch plate to RHS chord connections in cross joints.” Stevin Laboratory Report No. 6-81-6, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands.
Wardenier, J., Kurobane, Y., Packer, J. A., van der Vegte, G. J., and Zhao, X.-L. (2008). Design guide for circular hollow section (CHS) joints under predominantly static loading, 2nd Ed., CIDECT, Geneva, Switzerland.
Willibald, S. (2001). “The static strength of ring-stiffened tubular - and -joints.” Proc., 9th Int. Symp. on Tubular Structures, A.A. Balkema Düsseldorf, Germany, 581–588.
Willibald, S., Packer, J. A., Voth, A. P., and Zhao, X. (2006). “Through plate joints to elliptical and circular hollow sections.” Proc., 11th Int. Symp. on Tubular Structures, Taylor & Francis, Québec City, Canada, 221–228.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 138 • Issue 8 • August 2012
Pages: 995 - 1006
Copyright
© 2012. American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 4, 2011
Accepted: Sep 22, 2011
Published online: Jul 16, 2012
Published in print: Aug 1, 2012
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.