Mechanical behavior of tubular T-joint after fire

Abstract

This paper presents experimental results of the post-fire behavior of tubular T-joints. The research aims at the failure modes and the residual strengths of the T-joints after fire. Three tests of full-scale tubular T-joints are conducted. The first one is carried out to study the mechanical behavior of T-joints under ambient temperature. The other two tests are performed to study the influence of pre-load, heating and cooling phase on residual load-bearing capacity of the tubular T-joints. The test results show that the sustained axial load on the brace has remarkable influence on the residual deflection of the T-joints which is cooled down to room temperature. The results of the experiments also indicate that the axial load level and heating and cooling history have more significant effects on the compressive stiffness of the T-joints than the residual strength. In the numerical study, the result of finite element model agrees well with the test result. The work in this paper provides a basis for further parametric analysis and theoretical study on the structural evaluation after fire.