Studies On The Ultimate Capacity Of Buckling Of The Full-wise T-shape RHS Structure Joint

Recently, Rectangular Hollow Section (RHS) structure has developed into one of the popular kind of building structures. Compared with other building structures, RHS has its special advantages which have been noted in the design and construction of many important buildings at home and abroad. However, there are still many problems in the design and application of the RHS structures. Design of joints is a life and death issue in the design of RHS structures. Because of its complicated loading condition, it is difficult to work out a precise solution for the ultimate capacity of RHS structure. As a result, the popular method is to use experiment method calibrating the solution derived from numerical analysis.The full-wise T-shape RHS structure joint is a simple and popular kind of joints. Lots of research has been made in this field to get a variety of calculation methods which haven't come to a unity. There are large differences in the calculation of ultimate buckling capacity of full-wise T-shape RHS joints in different related codes at home and abroad. To specify the ultimate buckling capacity of full-wise T-shape RHS structure joints, two kinds of loading methods are commonly used, that is the Simply-supported Beam Method (SSBM) and the Concentrated Loading Method (CLM).However, SSBM and CLM are inevitably have their disadvantages. This paper used a nonlinear Finite Element Method (FEM) software (Ansys6.1) to analyze the buckling capacity of full-wise T-shape BHS structure joints, with consideration of the initial geometry flaw, initial deflection and the influence of axial force on the chord. To overcome the disadvantages of SSBM and CLM, this paper included an updated SSBM (USSBM) with artificial deformation applied on the mid of the beam. Finally, a group of equations for the calculation of the ultimate buckling capacity of full-wise T-shape BHS structure joints are provided through adopting the regression analysis method to analyze the FEM results.It is noted that a new view point of this paper is provided that axial force on chord has negative effect on the ultimate buckling capacity of full-wise T-shape BHS structure joints, which is alien to the tradition view.