Behaviour Of Grout Infilled Steel Tubular Members And Joints

Abstract

This thesis addresses two topics: ¿ Sectional capacity enhancement for partially grout infilled member; and ¿ Fatigue assessment of tubular joint with fully grout infilled chord Both experimental and numerical investigations were conducted. The finite element (FE) results are found to be in good agreement with the experimental results. For the first topic, the results indicate the plan interfacial shearing mechanism without shear key is ineffective for the partially infilled member. Shear keys, like the stiffening plates, and high strength grout are indispensible. For the second topic, it is found the presence of infilled grout in the chord not only reduces the SCF, but also lowers the DOB, which leads to larger crack driving force in terms of hot spot stress. Hence, for fatigue assessment of grouted tubular joints it is essential to include the effect of DOB. Simplified design models are proposed for both topics.