Open Access

ARTICLE

Hysteretic Behaviour of Square Tubular T-joint With and Without Collar-Plate Reinforcement under Axial Cyclic Loading

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1 Yantai University, Yantai, China.
2 Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Structural Longevity 2010, 3(3), 171-189. https://doi.org/10.3970/sl.2010.003.171

Abstract

For a square tubular T-joint under axial loading, failure occurs easily along the weld toe because high stress concentration exists in this region. This phenomenon can be used to explain why brittle fracture is dominant when the joint is subjected to cyclic loading, such as faigue loading or earthquake loading. To improve the seismic resistance of a square tubular joint, collar plate can be used to reinforce the joint connection. However, the aseismic behaviour of the collarplate reinoforced tubular joint must be assessed because only the increase of the load carrying capacity can not guarantee the capacity of energy dissipation for this joint under seismic loading. Through both experimental investigation and finite element analysis, the hysteretic behaviour of square tubular T-joints with or without collar-plate reinforcement is studied. The hysteretic curves, the ductility ratio and the energy dissipation index are all analyzed. Based on the obtained results, it is found that a square tubular T-joint with collar-plate reinforcement can dissipate more energy before failure compared with the corresponding un-reinforced one. Therefore, the reinforced T-joints are more capable in resisting earthquake loading.

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Keywords

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