Numerical Investigation on Tubular Joints Strengthened by Collar Plate

摘要

As the stiffness of a circular hollow section tube in radius direction is generally much smaller than its stiffness in axial direction, failure occurs easily at the position close to the weld toe on the chord surface of a tubular joint. To improve the bearing capacity of a tubular joint, collar plate can be used. Using finite element (FE) modelling, the static strength of collar plate strengthened tubular joints is analyzed and the accuracy of the numerical results are evaluated. Furthermore, the influence of the joint & the collar geometries and the material property on the static strength of the tubular joints is investigated. And finally, some advice is proposed for design purposes.