FINITE ELEMENT METHODS FOR THE ANALYSIS OF THIN-WALLED TUBULAR SECTIONS UNDERGOING PLASTIC ROTATION

摘要

The paper describes the FE analysis used to investigate compact cold-formed tubular members undergoing substantial plastic deformation. The FE program used is ABAQUS and the data is based on actual material tests of cold-formed tubes including nonlinear stress-strain characteristics. The significant variable in the study is the geometric imperfections induced mainly by welding of plates to the tubes. The paper describes how these imperfections are included in the analysis and their effect on the results. A surprising result of the study is the significance of geometric imperfections on the plastic rotation capacity of compact tubular sections.