Abstract
Steel members with a single-angle cross-section are widely used, but some of their behaviours under loads are not considered by design codes, necessitating related research. This study is carried out on fifty steel single-angle members focused on the stress distribution behaviour and the ultimate axial load capacities under different end deformations through 3-dimensional Finite Element (FE) simulations and comparison with previous experimental findings. FE modeling is capable of modeling steel structures with high accuracy. Based on the results, the length of the angle affects neither the shape of the stress distribution nor the ultimate load capacity of the element. The end deformations affect the stress distribution on the member angle cross-section, including the ultimate load capacity. The end deformations which restricted deformations in the two directions perpendicular to the load axis are found to be optimal, with an average increase in load capacity by a factor of 1.96 for an equal angle and 2.21 for an unequal angle compared with the capacities calculated for single angles with deformations allowed in all directions. The appearance of a compression zone on the unconnected angle leg reduces the ultimate load capacity. The current design code (ANSI/AISC-360) can be adopted to calculate the ultimate load in the case of no deformation in the y-axis direction and no deformations in the x- and y-axis directions where the mean ratios of PNum/Pcode are 1.24 and 1.34 respectively. However, the code does not agree with the end deformations of free deformations and no deformation in the x-axis direction for either equal or unequal angles where the mean ratios of PNum/Pcode are 0.64 and 0.79 respectively, which is unsafe.
Highlights
Steel tension members with a single-angle cross-section are widely used in structural applications such as trusses and lateral bracing systems
The deformations occurring at the end of the steel element with a cross-section of an equal or unequal single-angle is proved to affect the shape of the stress distribution as well as the maximum load capacity of the steel element
The Finite Element (FE) modeling is used on a number of 50 samples with equal and unequal single angles with different end deformations
Summary
Steel tension members with a single-angle cross-section are widely used in structural applications such as trusses and lateral bracing systems. Because the cross-section consists of a single angle, during fixation, only one leg is connected to the steel loading plate, and the other is left unfixed This causes problems in the presence of a decentralized load in addition to the end deformations of the element in relation to the deformation. The present study aimed to investigate the behaviour of equal and unequal single-angle steel members using finite element (FE) simulations and analysis, which are currently widely used to analyze steel structural elements and have been shown to give highly accurate results [20,21,22]. The rest of the samples will be used to study the distribution of stresses and to verify the accuracy of the use of the current design codes in predicting the maximum load capacity of the steel element with a single-angle cross-section
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