Experimental and numerical research on mechanical behavior of prestressed high-strength bolt joint

Abstract

The difficulty in innovating a prefabricated large-span ridge tube cable dome with annular struts lies in the development of a novel connection node that can connect “rigid and flexible” members, while also meeting various important requirements, such as adequate stiffness, simple structure, easy assembly at the construction site. In this study, a novel prestressed high-strength bolt (PHSB) joint system that can connect “rigid and flexible” members employed in a prefabricated large-span ridge tube cable dome with annular struts (PLRTCDAS) was presented. A series of tests were performed considering different disc thicknesses, perforated cross plate thicknesses, perforated angle steel thicknesses, and outer sleeve heights. The moment–rotation (M–Φ) curves, failure modes, and cable force variation curves of the PHSB joints were obtained. By comparing and discussing the main characteristic values of the M–Φ curves, the influence of parameter changes on the mechanical behavior of the novel joint was investigated. A three-dimensional finite element (FE) model of the PHSB joint was established to analyze the bolt force, bending performance, and failure modes. A comparison between the experimental and numerical results highlights the degree of accuracy of the proposed FE model. The results indicate that the PHSB joint exhibits adequate stiffness and bending capacity, which can meet the mechanical property requirements for the joint employed in the PLRTCDAS. The proposed FE model was demonstrated to be a reasonable model that can be used to conduct parametric analyses of the PHSB joint.