STATIC BEHAVIOUR OF LASER-WELDED SANDWICH BEAMS WITH CORRUGATED-STRIP-CORE CONNECTORS

Abstract

In this thesis, a novel laser welding technique is adopted to fabricate the steel-concrete-steel (SCS) sandwich structure with corrugated-strip-core connectors, which overcomes the difficulty by conventional welding technology. Experimental study was carried out to investigate the static behaviour of five configurations of beams. The test results were compared with theoretical prediction obtained by existing formulae in relevant design codes. Numerical investigation was conducted in Abaqus, and cohesive zone model (CZM) was adopted to represent the laser welding quality, which was able to simulate the load-displacement behaviour and to capture the failure modes successfully. These contributions lay a solid foundation for the further investigation of SCS sandwich structures, and can be a good reference for relevant industrial manufacture process.