Maximum Axial Strength Research Articles

Free-Form Shape Optimization of Advanced High-Strength Steel Members

The high yielding strength of advanced high-strength steel (AHSS) provides great opportunities for cold-formed steel (CFS) members with much higher load-carrying capability. However, if manufactured into the traditional cross-section shapes, such as C and Z, the material advantage cannot be fully exploited due to the cross-section instabilities. The purpose of this study was to establish a shape optimization method for cold-formed sections with AHSS and explore the potentially material efficiency that AHSS could provide to these sections in terms of their axial strength. In this study, the insights provided from the elastic buckling analysis and nonlinear finite element (FE) simulations of a set of traditional CFS sections were employed to determine the appropriate section size and length for optimization. Then, the optimization method was established using the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm with the integration of computational analysis through CUFSM and the design approach (i.e., the direct strength method, DSM). The objective function is the maximum axial strength of the CFS sections manufactured with AHSS using the same amount of material (i.e., the same cross-section area). Finally, the optimal sections were simulated and verified by FE analysis, and the characteristics of the optimal cross-sections were analyzed. Overall, the optimization method in this paper achieved good optimization results with greatly improved axial strength capacity from the optimal sections.

Experimental study on the compressive behavior of concrete filled steel tubular columns with regional corrosion

For concrete filled steel tubular (CFST) columns located in water, corrosion rate of the region near the water surface is significantly higher than other parts above and below the water surface, which introduces regional corrosion in the steel tube. In this paper, experimental parametric study was carried out to investigate the influence of this kind of regional corrosion on the maximum axial strength of CFST columns using extremely low strength concrete. The electrochemical corrosion method was used to simulate the onsite regional corrosion. 21 CFST column specimens, with different diameter-thickness ratios and corrosion levels (in both thickness and height directions), were tested under uniaxial compression. Test results showed that the failure mode was local outward buckling of steel tube and concrete crushing near the corrosion. Axial strength and stiffness were affected by both thickness corrosion ratio and height corrosion ratio, with thickness corrosion ratio being dominant. With consideration of the influence of different corrosion levels, a method for predicting the maximum axial strength of CFST columns with regional corrosion was proposed, which agreed well with test results.

Improving buckling resistance of hollow structural steel columns strengthened with polymer-mortar

Experimental study is carried out to investigate the behavior and strength of square hollow structural section (SHS) columns, strengthened with an innovative polymer-mortar system. Thirteen specimens of cold-formed SHS columns with different variables are chosen. Three short-column and ten long-column SHS specimens were experimentally tested. The local and overall buckling of specimens are measured in the laboratory. The tested specimens are subjected to an axial compressive load. The effect of the thickness of polymer-mortar applied directly to the well-prepared steel surface was studied. The effect of slenderness ratio (kL/r) and width-to-thickness ratio (b/t) on the effectiveness of mortar strengthening was also discussed. Different failure modes are discussed as well as complete axial strength curves are drawn for different cross-sections and member lengths. A maximum axial strength gain of 31.6% was achieved for SHS short columns strengthened with 6 mm thickness polymer-mortar layer. For long columns, a maximum strength gain of 76.7% was achieved with 6 mm thickness polymer-mortar layer applied on four sides. In all mortar-strengthened SHS short and long columns, the axial and lateral deflection, and the axial strain were reduced. The axial strength of SHS long slender columns increased greatly as the overall slenderness ratio increases.

A new strengthening technique for increasing the load carrying capacity of rectangular reinforced concrete columns subjected to axial compressive loading

In this work, a new technique for the efficient confinement of reinforced concrete (RC) columns of rectangular cross-section is described and its effectiveness is assessed experimentally. This technique is based on the concept of applying strips of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) wet layup sheets with a certain prestress level using a mechanical device. The influence of the cross-section aspect ratio of columns on the axial stress-strain response, strain field in the CFRP and strength increase provided by the different adopted strengthening configurations was investigated. All specimens had a height of 1100 mm, and three cross-sections were considered: 120 × 120 mm2, 240 × 120 mm2 and 480 × 120 mm2, representing cross-section aspect ratios (large/small edge) equal to 1, 2 and 4, respectively. Four types of columns were tested: conventional RC columns (reference columns), fully-wrapped columns, partially-wrapped columns, and columns strengthened according to the new technique. All columns were subjected to axial compression loading until failure. The experimental results show that the cross-section aspect ratio has a significant effect on the confinement effectiveness that CFRP strengthened systems can provide to RC columns of rectangular cross-section. The maximum axial strength and axial strain at the peak load of all columns significantly decrease when the cross-section aspect ratio increases. Based on the obtained experimental results, it is shown that the proposed technique is more efficient in terms of increasing the load carrying capacity of rectangular RC columns than CFRP-based conventional strengthening techniques.

Effects of coring directions on the mechanical properties of Chinese shale

This paper presents an experimental study of the effects of bedding planes on the mechanical properties of shale samples. Two specimens, sourced from Sichuan Basin in China, cored perpendicular and parallel to the beddings were tested using a uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) machine, and the corresponding crack propagation patterns were analysed using acoustic emission (AE) data. In addition, a digital camera system called ARAMIS was used to acquire the lateral and axial strains during the loading. It was observed that there was significant influence on the peak strength of shale when tested for various bedding planes. As expected, the sample with perpendicular load had nearly twice as high maximum axial strength than the sample with parallel load, and the peak cumulative energy release of the parallel load on the specimen was 1.5 times higher than that of the perpendicular load. The axial strain was higher than the lateral strain in perpendicular load, while under parallel load, the lateral strain was higher than the axial strain. When the axial stress was small, for the shale sample with perpendicular load, the axial strain increased gradually with the increase of stress. In contrast, the lateral strain remained near to zero during the loading period for the sample with parallel load, and both the axial strain and lateral strain were not affected by the increasing load and remained zero. The volumetric strain of the two samples indicated that shale with a perpendicular load shows a compaction behaviour, while parallel load leads to a dilatancy characteristic. The AE data showed that the compression period consists of three stages on both of the two tests and energy release occurs mainly in the third stage. From the ARAMIS results, no perpendicular cracking was observed in the normal stress test, while under parallel loading, the cracks were mostly parallel to the load direction.

탄소섬유쉬트로 구속된 콘크리트충전 원형강관기둥의 단조압축실험

본 연구에서는 기존 원형 CFT기둥 실험체와 탄소섬유쉬트로 추가구속된 원형 CFT기둥 실험체의 단조압축거동 및 압축내력평가에 관한 실험을 수행하였다. 실험변수는 탄소섬유쉬트 보강겹수와 직경-두께비이며, 실험변수에 따라 총 10개의 실험체를 제작하여 단조압축실험을 수행하였다. 실험을 통하여 기존 CFT 실험체와 탄소섬유쉬트로 구속된 CFT 실험체의 파괴거동, 하중-축변위 곡선, 최대내력, 변형성능을 비교한다. 끝으로 탄소섬유쉬트의 추가구속을 통해 기둥의 국부좌굴을 지연시켰으며 구속효과로 인해 내력은 상승하는 것으로 나타났다. This paper presents the results of an experiment comparing the current circular CFT columns and circular CFT columns that were additionally confined by carbon fiber sheets (CFS) under axial loading. The main experimental parameters are the numbers of CFS layers and the diameter-to-thickness ratio. 10 specimens were prepared according to the experimental parameter plans, and axial compression tests were conducted. From the tests, the failure procedure, load-axial deformation curve, maximum axial strength, and deformation capacity of the CFT columns and confined CFT columns were compared. The test results showed that the maximum axial strengths of CFT columns additionally confined by CFS are increased higher than those of the current CFT columns, and that local buckling can be delayed due to the confinement effect of CFS.

Repair of steel structures by bonded carbon fibre reinforced polymer patching: experimental and numerical study of carbon fibre reinforced polymer – steel double-lap joints under tensile loading

The behavior of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite bonded to a steel plate double-lap joint was investigated experimentally. A total of 19 specimens were tested with the major test parameters being the bonded lap length, LL, and the axial adherend stiffness ratio, ETR. Five of the 19 specimens were prepared using CFRP sheets, and the rest using CFRP plates. Two CFRP plate specimens were prepared with a tapered lap joint, and their results were compared with those of counterpart specimens prepared without tapered lap joints. In general, the behavior of specimens made from either CFRP sheets or CFRP plates were similar. The joint's axial load carrying capacity increased with increasing LLup to a certain limit, when the joint's load carrying capacity could no longer be increased by increasing LL. However, experimental results showed that a larger failure deformation could be achieved by increasing LLpast this limit. Specimens that had the same inner adherend thickness but higher axial adherend stiffness ratios showed higher axial load carrying capacities. Test results also showed that the strengths of tapered lap joints were almost the same as those of nontapered lap joints with the same LL. Nonlinear finite element analysis was carried out to study the stress–strain behavior of the adherend and the adhesive of the double-lap joint. Using finite element analysis results in an analytical solution obtained from the literature, predictions of the joint's maximum axial strength and minimum required LLwere made. This analytical solution provided good predictions when compared with test results, producing test to predicted ratios from 0.88 to 1.14.

Effect of Geometry of Grooves on Connection Strength of Hydraulically Expanded Tube-to-Tubesheet Joints

The object of this paper is to investigate the effect of the geometry of circumferential grooves on the connection strength of hydraulically expanded tube-to-tubesheet joints of heat exchangers. Seven-tube models with different groove widths, depths, spacings, and locations were fabricated under the same expansion pressure by commercial hydraulic expanders. Then the corresponding pullout forces were gained by experimental means. In addition, the process of hydraulic expansion of tube-to-tubesheet joints was simulated using the nonlinear finite element method based on a two-dimensional (2D) axisymmetrical model. The residual stress and deformation of joints were determined, and the effect of geometrical parameters of the grooves on the connection strength of joints was studied in terms of the average residual contact pressure of the joints. The experimental and calculation results indicate that the most important geometrical factor for determining the connection strength is the groove width. Groove depth, spacing, and location have a secondary effect. Optimum geometrical sizes of grooves are proposed based on maximum axial strength. These can provide a reference for the revision of design and manufacturing codes.

New Approach for Modeling Confined Concrete. I: Circular Columns

An analytical stress-strain model for concrete confined by spiral steel was developed. The model is based on the concrete–spiral steel interaction. The deformational behavior of concrete under axial and lateral compression provided at discrete locations was studied experimentally, and the response characteristics of spiral to lateral expansion of concrete was determined theoretically. A total of 24 (145 × 300 mm) confined concrete cylinders were tested to failure under monotonic concentric compression. A criterion for maximum axial strength and a set of constitutive relations for estimating the characteristic points on the stress-strain curve of confined concrete were derived. A comparative study was performed on the response of concrete cylinders tested in the present study and of 15 large-size circular columns tested by other researchers. The proposed model gave good agreement with the test results.