Influence of weld rigidity on the non-linear structural response of beams with a curved distortion

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Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Date
2021-11-01
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Language
en
Pages
13
Series
Engineering Structures, Volume 246
Abstract
This study investigates an analytical beam model to improve the analyses of welded thin plates with welding-induced curved distortions. The model addresses the rigidity of a butt-welded joint and its effect on plate bending and structural stress by including a rotational spring at the welded end. The spring rotational stiffness, k(a), is replaced by the fixity factor, rho(a) . The validity of the model is based on the assumption of small displacement and moderate rotation of the mid-plane of the welded plate. Using the Finite Element Analysis of a two-dimensional model, a semi-analytical method for the fixity factor computation is developed. Compared with the numerical analysis, the beam model showed a maximum error of 3% in deflection and hot-spot structural stress. Results suggest that the fixity factor is mainly dependent on the width of the weld bead and the far-end constraint. The introduction of rho(a) can improve the analytical solution by 9% in the evaluation of the hot-spot structural stress. Neglecting the non-ideal joint rigidity may lead up to 54% underestimation in terms of fatigue life, when the S-N curve slope, m, equals 5. However, the relevance of rho(a) decreases for increasing geometric slenderness of the welded plates.
Description
Keywords
Thin plate, angular misalignment, Welded joint, Fixity, structural stress, Hot-spot, Stress magnification factor
Other note
Citation
Mancini, F, Remes, H, Romanoff, J & Gallo, P 2021, ' Influence of weld rigidity on the non-linear structural response of beams with a curved distortion ', Engineering Structures, vol. 246, 113044 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2021.113044