Experimental and Numerical Study of Fixed-Ended High-Strength Aluminum Alloy Angle-Section Columns
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 146, Issue 10
Abstract
High-strength aluminum alloys are emerging and gaining increasing prominence in structural engineering. The structural behavior and design of 7A04-T6 high-strength aluminum alloy equal-leg angle-section columns under axial compression are investigated in this study. Eighteen experiments on extruded high-strength aluminum alloy angle-section columns with various lengths were carried out. Complementary material tests and initial geometric imperfection measurements were also performed. The test setup, procedure, and results, including failure modes, load-carrying capacities, and load–end shortening responses, are fully reported. The test program was followed by a numerical study, where refined finite-element (FE) models were first developed and validated against the test results and then utilized to carry out parametric analyses covering a wide range of cross-section dimensions and column lengths. Finally, the load-carrying capacities obtained from the tests and numerical analyses were used to evaluate the accuracy of existing design provisions in European, Chinese, and American standards for aluminum alloy structures and the direct strength method (DSM). The results show that the existing design methods generally yield good capacity predictions for fixed-ended members failing by flexural buckling, but rather conservative and scattered predictions when failure is by flexural-torsional buckling. Improved resistance predictions were achieved through application of a revised DSM-based approach.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support received from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51038006), the State Grid Corporation of China Science and Technology Project (Grant No. GC71-13-041), and the Special Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (Grant No. 20110002130002). The authors would also like to thank Yuanbin Han and Ying Yu for their contribution to the testing program. The support from the Key Laboratory of Civil Engineering Safety and Durability of China Education Ministry at Tsinghua University is also highly acknowledged.
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Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 146 • Issue 10 • October 2020
Copyright
©2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 7, 2019
Accepted: Mar 30, 2020
Published online: Jul 24, 2020
Published in print: Oct 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Dec 24, 2020
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