• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.53-66
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• 2000

This paper proposes a simple numerical model for use in a finite analysis (FEA) of scaffold-shoring systems. The structural model consists of a single set of multiple-story scaffolds with constraints in the out-of-plane direction at every connection joint between stories. Although this model has only two dimensions (termed the 2-D model), it is derived from the analysis of a complete scaffold-shoring system and represents the structural behavior of a complete three-dimensional system. Experimental testing of scaffolds up to three stories in height conducted in the laboratory, along with an outdoor test of a five-story scaffold system, were used to validate the 2-D model. Both failure modes and critical loads were compared. In the comparison of failure modes, the computational results agree very well with the test results. However, in the comparison of critical loads, computational results were consistently somewhat greater than test results. The decreasing trends of critical loads with number of stories in both the test and simulation results were similar. After investigations to explain the differences between the computationally and experimentally determined critical loads, it was recommended that the 2-D model be used as the numerical model in subsequent analysis. In addition, the computational critical loads were calibrated and revised in accordance with the experimental critical loads, and the revised critical loads were then used as load-carrying capacities for scaffold-shoring systems for any number of stories. Finally, a simple procedure is suggested for determining load-carrying capacities of scaffold-shoring systems of heights other than those considered in this study.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.67-79
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• 2000

Critical loads and load-carrying capacities for steel scaffolds used as shoring systems were compared using computational and experimental methods in Part I of this paper. In that paper, a simple 2-D model was established for use in evaluating the structural behavior of scaffold-shoring systems. This 2-D model was derived using an incremental finite element analysis (FEA) of a typical complete scaffold-shoring system. Although the simplified model is only two-dimensional, it predicts the critical loads and failure modes of the complete system. The objective of this paper is to present a closed-form solution to the 2-D model. To simplify the analysis, a simpler model was first established to replace the 2-D model. Then, a closed-form solution for the critical loads and failure modes based on this simplified model were derived using a bifurcation (eigenvalue) approach to the elastic-buckling problem. In this closed-form equation, the critical loads are shown to be function of the number of stories, material properties, and section properties of the scaffolds. The critical loads and failure modes obtained from the analytical (closed-form) solution were compared with the results from the 2-D model. The comparisons show that the critical loads from the analytical solution (simplified model) closely match the results from the more complex model, and that the predicted failure modes are nearly identical.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.143-159
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• 2023

Recently, the design of scaffolding systems has garnered considerable attention due to the increasing number of scaffold collapses. These incidents arise from the underestimation of imposed loads and the site-specific conditions that restrict the application of lateral restraints in scaffold assemblies. The present study is committed to augmenting the buckling resistance of vertical support members, obviating the need for supplementary lateral restraints. To achieve this objective, experimental and computational analyses were performed to assess the axial load buckling capacity of steel props, composed of two hollow steel pipes that slide into each other for a certain length. Three full-scale steel props with various geometric properties were tested to construct and validate the analytical models. The total unsupported length of the steel props is 6 m, while three pins were installed to tighten the outer and inner pipes in the distance they overlapped. Finite Element (FE) modeling is carried out for the three steel props, and the developed models were verified using the experimental results. Also, theoretical analysis is utilized to verify the FE analysis. Using the FE-verified models, a parametric study is conducted to evaluate the effect of different inserted pipe lengths on the steel props' axial load capacity and lateral displacement. Based on the results, the typical failure mode for the studied steel props is global elastic buckling. Also, the prop's elastic buckling strength is sensitive to the inserted length of the smaller pipe. A threshold of minimum inserted length is one-third of the total length, after which the buckling strength increases. The present study offers a prop with enhanced buckling resistance and introduces an equation for calculating an equivalent effective length factor (k), which can be seamlessly incorporated into Euler's buckling equation, thereby facilitating the determination of the buckling capacity of the enhanced props and providing a pragmatic engineering solution.