Flexural behaviour of hot-finished high strength steel square and rectangular hollow sections

High strength steels, considered in the context of the structural Eurocodes, as steels with a yield strength over 460 MPa, are gaining increasing attention from structural engineers and researchers owing to their potential to enable lighter and more economic structures. This paper focuses on the bending strength of hot-finished high strength steel (HSS) square and rectangular hollow sections; the results of detailed experimental and numerical studies are presented and structural design rules for HSS cross-sections are proposed. A total of 22 in-plane bending tests, in three-point bending and four-point bending configurations, on HSS sections in grades S460 and S690 were conducted. The experimental results were replicated by means of non-linear finite element modelling. Upon validation of the finite element models, parametric studies were performed to assess the structural response of HSS sections over a wider range of cross-section slenderness, cross-section aspect ratio and moment gradient. The experimental results combined with the obtained numerical results were used to assess the suitability of the current European (EN 1993-1-1 and EN 1993-1-12) cross-section classification limits for HSS structural components. The reliability of the proposed cross-section classification limits was verified by means of the EN 1990 - Annex D method.The Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) under grant agreement No. RFSR CT 2012-00028. V&M DEUTSCHLAND GMBH, Mr. Gordon Herbert, Mr. Fillip Kirazov and Mr. Isaak Vryzidi

Detailing of I-beam-to-CHS column joints with external diaphragm plates for seismic actions

In this paper monotonic and cyclic finite element (FE) analyses are presented for the development of an I-beam-to-CHS column steel moment joint for seismic actions. The development process for the final joint details includes: (1) eliminating two identified structural deficiencies of distortion in column web panel and strain concentrations in the external diaphragms; (2) creating a multi-fuse energy dissipation mechanism; (3) devising a joint to delay onset of beam yielding. Two external diaphragm collar plates are welded to the circumference of the CHS column for connection to beam flanges. Various collar ring widths are examined for these horizontal diaphragms and a width (based on achieving full strength of the beam flanges) is found to produce an acceptable web panel performance. Different types of stiffener geometries in the connection region are then trialed to eliminate strain concentrations in the diaphragms. Two pairs of triangular diaphragm stiffeners are found to provide the desired performance. In order to produce a multi-fuse energy dissipation mechanism, tapered cover plates (TCPs) equipped with vertical stiffeners (VSs) are integrated into the joint. Oversized web holes of 4–10 mm are required to enable inelastic deformation for an overall joint rotation of 60–100 mrad, without undesirable web distortion. Further FE analyses are used to design the TCPs and VSs so they can be replaceable link post-seismic actions. For the final joint detailing it is shown that 6 mm oversized holes for the TCPs will delay the occurrence of yielding in the beam until the joint rotation is 70 mrad