• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.535-544
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• 2017

Box sections are symmetrical sections and they have high moment of inertia in both directions, therefore they are good members in tall building structures. For the rigid connection in structures with box column continuity plates are used on level of beam flanges in column. Assembly of the continuity plates is a difficult and unreliable work due to lack of weld or high welding and cutting in the fourth side of column in panel zone, so the use of experimental stiffeners have been considered by researchers. This paper presented an experimental investigation on connection in box columns. The proposed connection has been investigated in four cases which contain connection without internal and external stiffeners(C-0-00), connection with continuity plates(C-I-CP), connection with external vase shape stiffener (C-E-VP) and connection with surrounding plates(C-E-SP). The results show that the connections with vase plates and surrounding plates can respectively increase the ultimate strength of the connection up to 366% and 518% than the connection without stiffeners, in case connection with the continuity plates this parameter increases about 39%. In addition, the proposed C-E-VP and C-E-SP connection provide a rigid and safe connection to acquire rigidity of 95% and 98% respectively. But C-I-CP connection is classified as semi-rigid connections.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.585-603
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• 2013

Generally the required strength and stiffness of an I-shaped beam to the box-shaped column connection is achieved if continuity plates are welded to the column flanges from all sides. However, welding the forth edge of a continuity plate to the column flange may not be easily done and is normally accompanied by remarkable difficulties. This study was aimed to propose an alternative for box columns with continuity plates to diminish such problems. For this purpose a double-web I-shaped column was proposed. In this case the strength and rotational stiffness of the connection was provided by nearing the column webs to each other. Finite element studies on about 120 beam-column connections showed that the optimum proportion of the distance between two column webs and the width of the column flange (parameter ${\beta}$) was a function of the ratio of the beam flange width to the column flange width (parameter ${\alpha}$). Hence, based on the finite element results, an equation was proposed to estimate the optimum value of parameter ${\beta}$ in terms of parameter ${\alpha}$ to achieve the highest connection performance. Results also showed that the strength and ductility of post-Northridge connections of such columns are in average 12.5 % and 54% respectively higher than those of box-shaped columns with ordinary continuity plates. Therefore, a double-web I-shaped column of optimum arrangement might be a proper replacement for a box column with continuity plates when beams are rigidly attached to it.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.73-91
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• 2016

The use of box columns has been increased due to the rigidity in rigid orthogonal moment resisting frames. On the other hand, the installation and welding of necessary horizontal continuity plates inside the columns are both labor-consuming and costly tasks. Accordingly, in this paper, a new beam-to-box column connection by trapezoidal external stiffeners and horizontal bar mats is presented to provide seismic parameters. The proposed connection consists of eight external stiffeners in the level of beam flanges and five horizontal bar mats in Concrete Filled Tube (CFT) columns. The new connection effectively alleviates the stress concentration and moves the plastic hinge away from the column face by horizontal external stiffeners. In addition, the result shows that proposed connection has provided the required strength and rigidity of connection, so that the increased strength, 8.08% and rigidity, 3.01% are compared to connection with internal continuity plates, also the results indicate that this connection can offer appropriate ductility and energy dissipation capacity for its potential application in moment resisting frames in seismic region. As a result, the proposed connection can be a good alternative for connection with continuity plates.

• International Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.10-16
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• 2016

A trigonometric Layerwise higher order shear deformation theory (TLHSDT) is developed and implemented for free vibration and buckling analysis of laminated composite and sandwich plates by analytical and finite element formulation. The present model assumes parabolic variation of out-plane stresses through the depth of the plate and also accomplish the zero transverse shear stresses over the surface of the plate. Thus a need of shear correction factor is obviated. The present zigzag model able to meet the transverse shear stress continuity and zigzag form of in-plane displacement continuity at the plate interfaces. Hence, botheration of shear correction coefficient is neglected. In the case of analytical method, the governing differential equation and boundary conditions are obtained from the principle of virtual work. For the finite element formulation, an efficient eight noded $C^0$ continuous isoparametric serendipity element is established and employed to examine the dynamic analysis. Like FSDT, the considered mathematical model possesses similar number of variables and which decides the present models computationally more effective. Several numerical predictions are carried out and results are compared with those of other existing numerical approaches.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.121-133
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• 1995

It is well known that two-dimensional simplified third-order theories satisfy the layer interface continuity of transverse shear strains, thus these theories violate the continuity of transverse shear stresses when two consecutive layers differ either in fibre orientation or material. The third-order theories considered herein involve four/or five dependent unknowns in the displacement field and satisfy the condition of vanishing of transverse shear stresses at the bounding planes of the plate. The objective of this investigation is to examine (i) the flexural response prediction accuracy of these third-order theories compared to exact elasticity solution (ii) the effect of layer interface continuity conditions on the flexural response. To investigate the effect of layer interface continuity conditions, three-dimensional elasticity solutions are developed by enforcing the continuity of different combinations of transverse stresses and/or strains at the layer interfaces. Three dimensional twenty node solid finite element (having three translational displacements as degrees of freedom) without the imposition of any of the conditions on the transverse stresses and strains is also employed for the flexural analysis of the laminated plates for the purposes of comparison with the above theories. These shear deformation theories and elasticity approaches in terms of accuracy, adequacy and applicability are examined through extensive numerical examples.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.125-143
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• 2014

This paper provides a new technique for solving the static analysis of arbitrarily shaped composite plates by using Strong Formulation Finite Element Method (SFEM). Several papers in literature by the authors have presented the proposed technique as an extension of the classic Generalized Differential Quadrature (GDQ) procedure. The present methodology joins the high accuracy of the strong formulation with the versatility of the well-known Finite Element Method (FEM). The continuity conditions among the elements is carried out by the compatibility or continuity conditions. The mapping technique is used to transform both the governing differential equations and the compatibility conditions between two adjacent sub-domains into the regular master element in the computational space. The numerical implementation of the global algebraic system obtained by the technique at issue is easy and straightforward. The main novelty of this paper is the application of the stress and strain recovery once the displacement parameters are evaluated. Computer investigations concerning a large number of composite plates have been carried out. SFEM results are compared with those presented in literature and a perfect agreement is observed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.245-262
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• 2002

The free vibration analysis of stiffened laminated composite plates has been performed using the layered (zigzag) finite element method based on the first order shear deformation theory. The layers of the laminated plate is modeled using nine-node isoparametric degenerated flat shell element. The stiffeners are modeled as three-node isoparametric beam elements based on Timoshenko beam theory. Bilinear in-plane displacement constraints are used to maintain the inter-layer continuity. A special lumping technique is used in deriving the lumped mass matrices. The natural frequencies are extracted using the subspace iteration method. Numerical results are presented for unstiffened laminated plates, stiffened isotropic plates, stiffened symmetric angle-ply laminates, stiffened skew-symmetric angle-ply laminates and stiffened skew-symmetric cross-ply laminates. The effects of fiber orientations (ply angles), number of layers, stiffener depths and degrees of orthotropy are examined.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.851-867
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• 2016

Cruciform sections are an appropriate option for columns of orthogonal moment resisting frames for equal bending strength and stiffness about two main axes and the implementation is easier for continuity plates. These columns consist of two I-shaped sections, so that one of them is cut out in middle and two generated T-shaped sections be welded into I-shaped profile. Furthermore, in steel moment frames, unbalance moment at the beam-column connection leads to shear deformation in panel zone. Most of the obtained relations for panel zone strength derived from experimental and analytical results are on I-shaped columns with almost thin flanges. In this paper, a parametric study has been carried out using Finite Element Method (FEM) with effective parameters at the panel zone behavior. These parameters consist of column flange thickness, column web thickness, and thickness of continuity plates. Additionally, a mathematical model has been suggested to determine strength of cruciform column panel zone and has been shown its accuracy and efficiency.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.65-76
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• 1994

A higher-oder laminated plate theory including the effect of transverse shear deformation is developed to calculate the gross response and the detailed stress distribution. The theory satisfies the continuity condition of transverse shear stress, and accounts for parabolic variation of the transverse shear stresses through the thickness of each layer. Exact closed-ply laminates are obtained and the results are compared with three-dimensional elasticity solutions and a simple higher-order theory solutions. The results of the present work exhibit acceptable accuracy when compared to the three-dimensional elasticity solutions.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.623-637
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• 1999

This paper presents a four-noded quadrilateral $C^0$ strain plate element for the analysis of thick laminated composite plates. The element formulation is based on: 1) the third-order shear deformation theory; 2) assumed strain element formulation; and 3) interrelated edge displacements and rotations along element boundaries. Unlike the existing displacement-type composite plate elements based on the third-order theory, which rely on the $C^1$-continuity formulation, the present plate element is of $C^0$-continuity, and its element stiffness matrix is evaluated explicitly. Because of the third-order expansion of the in-plane displacements through the thickness, the resulting theory and hence elements do not need shear correction factors. The explicit element stiffness matrix makes the present element more computationally efficient than the composite plate elements using numerical integration for the analysis of thick layered composite plates.