Effect of fillet welds on T-joints with thin-walled chords

Abstract

Tubular joints with thin-walled sections could have a wide range of applications in the construction industry, possibly providing light structures with high structural efficiency. However, current design prescriptions do not recommend their use and more studies are needed to attest their viability. In this context, the effect of the size of fillet welds on cold-formed T-joints consisting of thin-walled rectangular hollow section chords and circular hollow section braces under axial compression loading was analysed. Experimental and numerical analyses were conducted and the results were compared with current design prescriptions. Three experiments were performed, with different weld sizes, in a machine that provided displacement-controlled testing with data acquisition from strain gauges and displacement transducers. Finite-element models were developed to replicate the general experimental setup and the results showed good correlation with the experimental data, indicating that the size of the weld influences joint resistance.