No / The behaviour of circular concrete-filled steel tubes (CFT) with various concrete strengths under axial load is presented. The effects of steel tube thickness, the bond strength between the concrete and the steel tube, and the confinement of concrete are examined. Measured column strengths are compared with the values predicted by Eurocode 4, Australian Standards and American Codes. 15 specimens were tested with 30, 60 and 100 N/mm2 concrete strength, with a D/t ratio from 22.9 to 30.5. All the columns were 114 mm in diameter and 300 mm in length. The effect due to concrete shrinkage is critical for high-strength concrete and negligible for normal strength concrete. All three codes predicted lower values than that measured during the experiments. Eurocode 4 gives the best estimation for both CFT with normal and high-strength concrete.

Although branch plate connections with circular hollow section (CHS) members are simple to fabricate and cost-effective, they are generally very flexible under low load application resulting in the limit states design resistance being governed by an imposed deformation limit. Restricting the ultimate capacity of a branch plate connection by a deformation limit results in the inherent strength of the CHS member being under-utilized, highlighting the need to develop connection stiffening methods. Two methods to stiffen branch plate-to-CHS connections are examined: a through plate connection and a grout-filled CHS branch plate connection. Further, the current design guidelines of various plate-to-CHS connection types are reexamined including the effect of chord axial stress and chord length on connection behaviour. Finally, the behaviour of connections with non-orthogonal or skew plate orientation, which has not previously been examined, was studied in depth.The behaviour of these uniplanar connection types under quasi-static axial loading was studied through 16 large-scale laboratory experiments and 682 numerical finite element analyses, as well as an extensive review of all previous international experimental and numerical findings. The extensive study formed the basis for a complete set of proposed design guidelines and provided insight into plate-to-CHS connection behaviour. For all plate-to-CHS connection types, the plate thickness is shown to effect connection capacity, though previously this was thought not to have significant impact on connection behaviour. The existing ideology of using the same design recommendations for tension- and compression-loaded connections, which was developed from compression results, under-utilizes an inherent increase in capacity provided by a connection primarily loaded in tension. As such, the recommended design guidelines split the two load senses into separate expressions that reflect the difference in behaviour. Stiffened through plate connection behaviour was determined to be the summation of branch plate behaviour in compression and tension, leading to a significant increase in capacity and identical behaviour regardless of branch load sense. The skewed branch plate connection behaviour was found to relate directly to the established behaviour of longitudinal and transverse plate connections. A design function was developed that interpolates the capacities of intermediate angles by using the proposed design recommendations of the two extreme connection types. Finally, the examination of chord axial stress and chord length for plate-to-CHS connections yielded results similar to previous international studies on CHS-to-CHS connections. The effect of chord length, however, has wide-reaching implications as to how experimental and numerical FE research programs are developed.

Although branch plate connections with circular hollow section (CHS) members are simple to fabricate and cost-effective, they are generally very flexible under low load application resulting in the limit states design resistance being governed by an imposed deformation limit. Restricting the ultimate capacity of a branch plate connection by a deformation limit results in the inherent strength of the CHS member being under-utilized, highlighting the need to develop connection stiffening methods. Two methods to stiffen branch plate-to-CHS connections are examined: a through plate connection and a grout-filled CHS branch plate connection. Further, the current design guidelines of various plate-to-CHS connection types are reexamined including the effect of chord axial stress and chord length on connection behaviour. Finally, the behaviour of connections with non-orthogonal or skew plate orientation, which has not previously been examined, was studied in depth.The behaviour of these uniplanar connection types under quasi-static axial loading was studied through 16 large-scale laboratory experiments and 682 numerical finite element analyses, as well as an extensive review of all previous international experimental and numerical findings. The extensive study formed the basis for a complete set of proposed design guidelines and provided insight into plate-to-CHS connection behaviour. For all plate-to-CHS connection types, the plate thickness is shown to effect connection capacity, though previously this was thought not to have significant impact on connection behaviour. The existing ideology of using the same design recommendations for tension- and compression-loaded connections, which was developed from compression results, under-utilizes an inherent increase in capacity provided by a connection primarily loaded in tension. As such, the recommended design guidelines split the two load senses into separate expressions that reflect the difference in behaviour. Stiffened through plate connection behaviour was determined to be the summation of branch plate behaviour in compression and tension, leading to a significant increase in capacity and identical behaviour regardless of branch load sense. The skewed branch plate connection behaviour was found to relate directly to the established behaviour of longitudinal and transverse plate connections. A design function was developed that interpolates the capacities of intermediate angles by using the proposed design recommendations of the two extreme connection types. Finally, the examination of chord axial stress and chord length for plate-to-CHS connections yielded results similar to previous international studies on CHS-to-CHS connections. The effect of chord length, however, has wide-reaching implications as to how experimental and numerical FE research programs are developed.

Several boom segments form the crane boom. These segments are often truss structures formed out of circular hollow sections, which are welded together forming the truss joints. A adequate modelling of these truss joints is very important for operational strength and life. Due to the large boom sizes, efficient models are used in the finite element method, generally built of beam elements. These models have problems capturing the proper bending moments working in the truss joints. This is caused by a insufficient portrayal of the joint stiffness. In the literature several modelling techniques with beam elements are proposed, which capture the joint stiffness better. These different modelling methods are implemented in a parametric boom section and compared with a shell element FE model. From this comparison the most appropriate modelling method is selected, which improve the portrayal of internal loads and nominal stresses. With these improved nominal stress values, it is investigated to implement a different fatigue assessment. The structural stress can be calculated from the nominal stress in combination with stress concentration factor (SCF) equations. To implement the structural stress method as fatigue assessment, several modelling and extrapolation methods have been compared. Which lead to a method for evaluating the structural stress in a efficient matter. This method is compared with existing SCF K truss joint equations, from which a new set of SCF equations is derived. These equations are constructed from a larger dataset, hold a wider validity range and fit better with the FE models. When applying these SCF equations with the improved beam modelling method in a boom section, the structural stress is not adequately captured. This is caused by unsymmetrical stressed braces in the K truss joints. Both the modelling methods and SCF equations account for uniformly stressed braces forming the truss joints. More research needs to be conducted to this uneven behaviour. If the structural stress method needs to be implemented with efficient FE models, submodels out of shell elements combined with beam elements are recommended. For fatigue evaluation with the nominal stress method, beam models which account for the local joint flexibility give sufficient realistic results. / Flera kranarmsegment bildar kranarmen. Dessa segment är ofta fackverk utformade av cirkulära ihåliga profiler, som är sammansvetsade och bildar fackverkslederna. En ordentlig modellering av dessa fackförband är mycket viktig för dess driftsstyrka och livslängd. På grund av storleken används finita elementmetoden, vanligtvis uppbyggt av balkelement. Dessa modeller har problem med att beräkna de korrekta böjmomenten som uppstår i fackverkslederna. Detta orsakas av en otillräcklig beskrivning av ledstyvheten. I litteraturen föreslås flera modelleringstekniker med balkelement som tar hänsyn till ledens styvhet bättre. Dessa olika modelleringsmetoder implementeras i en parametrisk kranarmsektion och jämförs med en FE-modell med skalelement. Med denna jämförelse väljs den mest lämpliga modelleringsmetoden, vilket bör förbättra skildringen av interna belastningar och nominella spänningar. Med dessa förbättrade nominella spänningsvärden, undersöks det att genomföra en annan utmattningsbedömning. Den strukturella spänningen kan beräknas utifrån den nominella spänningen i kombination med spänningskoncentrationsfaktor- (SCF) ekvationerna. För att implementera strukturella spänningsmetoden som utmattningsbedömning, har flera modellerings- och extrapoleringsmetoder jämförts. Detta leder till en metod för att utvärdera den strukturella spänningen effektivt. Denna metod jämförs med befintliga SCF-ekvationer, från vilka en ny uppsättning SCF-ekvationer härleds. Dessa ekvationer är konstruerade från en större datauppsättning, har ett bredare giltighetsområde och passar bättre med FE-modellerna. När man applicerar dessa SCF-ekvationer med den förbättrade balkmodelleringsmetoden i en kranarmsektion, uppsamlas strukturella spänningar inte tillräckligt, detta orsakas av ojämna spänningar i diagonalelementen i fackverkslederna. Både modelleringsmetoderna och SCF-ekvationerna tar hänsyn till jämnt spända diagonalelement som uppstår i fackverkslederna. Mer forskning bör göras över detta ojämna beteende. Om den strukturella spänningsmetoden måste implementeras med effektiva FE-modeller, rekommenderas undermodeller av skalelement kombinerade med balkelement. För utmattningsutvärdering med den nominella spänningsmetoden, ger balkmodeller som tar hänsyn till den lokala ledflexibiliteten tillräckligt realistiska resultat.