An experimental program was developed to test various unreinforced RHS-to-RHS 90° T-connections subject to branch in-plane bending moment with the objective of determining the effectiveness of the welded joint. Twelve unique test specimens were designed to be weld-critical and the results from the full-scale tests revealed that the current equation for the effective elastic section modulus for in-plane bending, S_ip, given in Table K4.1 of ANSI/AISC 360 (2010) is conservative. A modification to the current requirements that limit the effective width of the transverse weld elements is proposed, resulting in a safe and more economical weld design method for RHS-to-RHS T-, Y- and X- connections subject to branch axial load or bending moment. It is also concluded that the fillet weld directional strength enhancement factor, (1.00 + 0.50sin1.5Ө), should not be used for strength calculations of welded joints to square and rectangular hollow structural sections.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/33446 |
| Date | 22 November 2012 |
| Creators | McFadden, Matthew |
| Contributors | Packer, Jeffrey A. |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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