Single angle steel member damage under static and fatigue axial tension loads

Abstract

Sections of steel elements are subject to damage owing to factors such as sudden loads, tearing, or corrosion. This affects the efficiency of the steel element in terms of its load capacity or number of load cycles when subjected to fatigue load. Experimental tests were performed on five specimens of single-angle sections with various degrees of damage to the unconnected leg in the middle of the element length under static load. A finite element (FE) simulation was performed on 25 specimens with the same amount of damage as in the experimental tests under static and fatigue loads. The maximum load capacity and corresponding elongation under static load were measured in the FE simulation specimens and compared with the results. The results proved the high accuracy of the FE modeling of steel elements with damage to the unconnected leg of a single-angle section. For the section with damage to a depth of 80% of the depth of the unconnected angle leg, the maximum load capacity decreased by 67.5%. Damage also affected the number of load cycles. The percentage of decrease did not exceed 5% with damage up to 40% of the depth of the unconnected leg, but it increased to 57% with damage at 80% of the depth. It is therefore important to use the stress concentration factor when calculating the number of load cycles in damaged sections.