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Top-seat angle connection is known as one of the usual uncomplicated beam-to-column joints used in steel structures. This article investigates the fire performance of welded top-seat angle connections.

A finite element (FE) model, including nonlinear contact interactions, high-temperature properties of steel, and material and geometric nonlinearities was created for accomplishing the fire performance analysis. The FE model was verified by comparing its simulation results with test data. Using the verified model, 24 steel-framed top-seat angle connection assemblies are modeled. Parametric studies were performed employing the verified FE model to study the influence of critical factors on the performance of steel beams and their welded angle joints.

The results obtained from the parametric studies illustrate that decreasing the gap size and the top angle size and increasing the top angles thickness affect fire behavior of top-seat angle joints and decrease the beam deflection by about 16% at temperatures beyond 570 °C. Also, the fire-resistance rating of the beam with seat angle stiffener increases about 15%, compared to those with and without the web stiffener. The failure of the beam happens when the deflections become more than span/30 at temperatures beyond 576 °C. Results also show that load type, load ratio and axial stiffness levels significantly control the fire performance of the beam with top-seat angle connections in semi-rigid steel frames.

Development of design methodologies for these joints and connected beam in fire conditions is delayed by current building codes due to the lack of adequate understanding of fire behavior of steel beams with welded top-seat angle connections.

This paper aims to predicting the behavior of welded angle connections (moment-rotation-temperature) in fire using artificial neural network 10.

An artificial neural networking model is described to predict the moment-rotation response of semi-rigid beam-to-column joints at elevated temperature.

Data from 47 experimental fire tests and verified finite element model are used for training and testing and validating the neural network models. The model’s predicted values are compared with actual test results. The results indicate that the models can predict the moment-rotation-temperature behavior of semi-rigid beam-to-column joints with very high accuracy. The developed model can be modified easily to investigate other parameters that influence the performance of joints in fire.

The results indicate that the models can predict the moment-rotation-temperature behavior of semi-rigid beam-to-column joints with very high accuracy. The developed model can be modified easily to investigate other parameters that influence the performance of joints in fire.

In order to obtain the relationship between the geometry and stress concentration of load-bearing welded joints, the fatigue design method of welded structures based on stiffness coordination strategy is studied.

Based on the structural stress theory, a new method for anti-fatigue design of welded structures oriented to stiffness coordination strategy is proposed, and the detailed implementation process of this method is given. This method is also called the three-stage anti-fatigue design method for welded structures, which includes three stages, namely, identification, analysis and relief of stress concentration.

Through the experimental analysis of welded joints in IIW standard, the effectiveness of stiffness coordination in welded joint design is proved. The method is applied to the design of welded parts and products, and the feasibility of the method in alleviating the phenomenon of stress concentration and improving the fatigue resistance of welded structures is verified.

In this study, based on the principle of coordinated design of weld stiffness, a three-stage anti-fatigue design method of welded structure is proposed. The method has practical value for the optimization design and anti-fatigue performance improvement of welded structure in engineering products.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the fatigue performance of a welded detail from a composite steel-concrete railway twin girder bridge caused by a passenger train circulating at varying speeds, by identifying the dynamic amplification scenarios induced by resonance. For this purpose, the hotspot stress method is used, instead of the traditional nominal stress methods.

This paper assesses the fatigue behavior of a welded connection considering critical stress concentration locations (hotspot). Finite element analysis (FEA) is applied, utilizing both a global and a local submodel, made compatible by displacements field interpolation. The dynamic response is obtained through the modal superposition method. Stress cycles are extracted with the rainflow counting method and the fatigue damage is calculated with Palmgren-Miner’s rule. The feasibility of five submodels with different mesh densities, i.e. 1, 2, 4, 8 and 20 mm is verified.

An increase in the fatigue damage due to the resonance effect was found for the train traveling at a speed of 225 km/h. A good agreement between the computed fatigue damage for the submodels is achieved. However, a non-monotonic hotspot stress/fatigue damage vs mesh density convergence was observed with a peak observed for the 4 mm model, which endorses the mesh sensitivity that could occur when using the surface stress extrapolation detailed rules specified in the standards for the hotspot stress method.

Advanced dynamic analyses are proposed to obtain local stresses in order to apply a local method for the fatigue assessment of a bridge’s structure subjected to high-speed railway traffic on the basis of the mode superposition technique resulting in much less computing times.

The purpose of this paper is to develop the method of generating assembly sequences, which can be used in the shipbuilding industry. The method must take into account the assumptions specific for assembly processes of large-size steel ship hulls, among others, a large number of connections, multi-stage and parallel assembly, set priority relations between connections.

The assembly sequence is presented as a directed acyclic graph, whose vertices are mutually uniquely assigned to connections on a hull structure. The minimization of the number of unmet priority precedence of performing connections has been proposed as a criterion of optimization. The genetic algorithm has been proposed as a method to solve problems.

The proposed method allows to model the acyclic assembly process of welded structures and find solutions minimizing the objective function even for very complex problems. Because of this, the method has a chance to be used in shipbuilding.

Mathematical formulation of priority assumptions is quite laborious. The possibility of partial automation of this process should be considered. Due to the complexity of the problem, a relatively simplified objective function has been proposed. In assembling a hull, additional criteria should be taken into account. It is the direction of further research.

The method can be successfully used in shipbuilding and in planning the production of other steel welded structures, among others, tanks, components of bridges, offshore structures. Examples of calculations were performed on an actual structure of a hull fragment.

A new way of coding the acyclic serial-parallel sequence was designed. The proposed method allows to analyse the sequence using the graph theory. Original, two-part crossover and mutation operators for assembling sequence were proposed.

The purpose of this paper is an experimental investigation to determine the effects of defects on the strength of welds.

This investigation was carried out using butt- and fillet-welded specimens in tension. Several welding skills were incorporated into the investigation so as to come up with different types of defects. Half of the samples were welded flat and the other half, vertical.

Vertical welding resulted in a greater percentage of defects than flat welding. Most of the defects in the welds were a result of incomplete penetration, lack of fusion, slag inclusion, porosity and failure to weld to the given dimensions. The tests show that there is a linear relationship between the area of defects and the ultimate capacity of the joints.

Although the purpose of this research was to determine the effect of defects on the strengths of both butt and fillet welds, more attention was focused on fillet welds, as this investigation had not been carried out before. Fillet welds experience shear only, unlike butt welds which can either be in tension or shear, or, in rare cases, a combination of the two.

Concrete-filled steel tube structures are widely used for their high bearing capacity, good plasticity, good fire resistance and optimal seismic performance. In order to give full play to the advantages of concrete-filled steel tube, this paper proposes a prefabricated concrete-filled steel tube frame joint.

The concrete-filled steel tube column and beam are connected by high-strength bolted end-plate, and the steel bars in the concrete beam are welded vertically with the end-plates through the enlarged pier head. In addition, the finite element software ABAQUS is used numerically to study the seismic performance of the structure.

The ductility coefficient of the joint is in 1.72–6.82, and greater than 2.26 as a whole. The equivalent viscous damping coefficient of the joint is 0.13–3.03, indicating that the structure has good energy dissipation capacity.

The structure is convenient for construction and overcomes the shortcomings of the previous on-site welding and on-site concrete pouring. The high-strength bolted end-plate connection can effectively transfer the load, and each component can give play to its material characteristics.

Beginners and even experienced ones have difficulties in completing the structural fire analysis due to numerical difficulties such as convergence errors and singularity and have to spend a lot of time making many repetitive changes on the model. The aim of this article is to highlight the advantages of explicit solver which can eliminate the mentioned difficulties in finite element analysis containing highly nonlinear contacts, clearance between modeled parts at the beginning and large deflections because of high temperature. This article provides important information, especially for researchers and engineers who are new to structural fire analysis.

The finite element method is utilized to achieve mentioned purposes. First, a comparative study is conducted between implicit and explicit solvers by using Abaqus. Then, a validation process is carried out to illustrate the explicit process by using sequentially coupled heat transfer and structural analysis.

Explicit analysis offers an easier solution than implicit analysis for modeling multi-bolted connections under high temperatures. An optimum mesh density for bolted connections is presented to reflect the realistic structural behavior. Presented explicit process with the offered mesh density is used in the validation of an experimental study on multi-bolted splice connection under ISO 834 standard fire curve. A good agreement is achieved.

What makes the study valuable is that the points to be considered in the structural fire analysis are examined and it is a guide that future researchers can benefit from. This is especially true for modeling and analysis of multi-bolted connections in finite element software under high temperatures. The article can help to shorten and even eliminate the iterative debugging phases, which is a problematic and very time-consuming process for many researchers.

A robot welding line for heating boilers, working to a cycle time of less than five minutes, has been developed by Cloos for a German manufacturer.

The purpose of this paper is to complete fatigue analysis of welded joints considering both the crack initiation sites and crack coalescence, and to generate virtual welded specimens for computer simulation of fatigue life on a specimen-by-specimen basis; knowledge regarding the weld toe stress concentration factor (SCF) sequence is essential. In this study, attempts were made to analyze the sequence and to find a simple method to generate the sequence using computers.

Laser scanning technique was used to acquire the real three-dimensional weld toe geometry of welded specimens. The scanned geometry was digitally sectioned, and three-dimensional finite element (FE) models of the scanned specimens were constructed and the weld toe SCF sequence was calculated. The numbers in the sequence were analyzed using a simple autoregression model and the statistical properties of the sequence were acquired.

The autoregression analysis showed the value of a weld toe SCF is linearly related to its neighboring factor with a high correlation. When a factor value at a toe location is known, the neighboring factor can be simulated by a simple linear equation with a random residual. The weld toe factor sequence can thus be formed by repeatedly using the linear equation with a residual. The generated sequence exhibits close statistical properties to those of the real sequence obtained from FE results.

When the weld toe SCF sequence is known, it is possible to foresee potential crack locations and the subsequent crack coalescence. The results of the current study will be the foundation for the future work on fatigue analysis of welded joints considering the effects of crack initiation site and crack coalescence.

The weld toe SCF sequence was rarely discussed previously because of a lack of the available data. The current study is the first work to investigate the statistical properties of the sequence and found that a simple autoregression equation can be used to perform the analysis. This study is also the first work that successfully generates a weld toe SCF sequence, which can be used to simulate virtual welded specimens.