Numerical Investigation of Fillet Welds in HSS-to-Rigid End-Plate Connections
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 143, Issue 12
Abstract
This paper presents a finite-element (FE) investigation on the behavior of fillet-welded hollow structural section (HSS) rigid end-plate connections, wherein the entire weld length is effective. The FE models are validated by comparison to 33 experimental tests and a parametric study is then performed with 73 numerical tests to evaluate the effect of weld size, HSS branch wall slenderness, and branch inclination angle on fillet-weld strength. The inherent problem with single-sided fillet welds to a tension-loaded element is illustrated. A reliability analysis determined that the directional strength-increase factor for fillet welds in North America leads to inadequate values of the safety index for joints to both circular and rectangular HSSs, especially for connections with large welds. Hence, an alternative yet safe method for estimating the strength of fillet welds to HSS, based on weld size, is proposed. An expression for the fillet-weld size required to develop the yield strength of a 90° HSS branch member is derived.
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Acknowledgments
Financial support for this project has been provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
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Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 143 • Issue 12 • December 2017
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 25, 2016
Accepted: May 11, 2017
Published online: Sep 25, 2017
Published in print: Dec 1, 2017
Discussion open until: Feb 25, 2018
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