The influence of the HAZ mechanical properties on the behaviour of the welding

in transverse plate-to-tube joints

M.A. Serrano, C. López-Colina, I. Minondo, M. Lozano

Department of Construction and Manufacturing Engineering. University of Oviedo

ABSTRACT
The Eurocode 3 stablishes the component method to analytically characterize the structural joints
between beam and columns. When one of the members involved in the joint is a hollow section (i.e. a
tube) there is a lack of information for the specific components present in the joint.
There are two different ways to bridge the gap. The experimental testing on actual beam column joints
involving tubular sections or the numerical modelization typically by means of finite element analysis.
For this second option it is necessary to know the actual mechanical properties of the material. As long as
the joint implies a welding process there is a concern on how the mechanical properties in the heat
affected zone influence the behaviour of the joint.
In this paper some coupons are going to be extracted from the HAZ of the beam-column joint to be tested
and the results will be implemented in the numerical model of the joint to a better validation against the
experimental results of some tested joints.

Keywords: HAZ mechanical properties, structural joints, component method, tubular structures.

1. INTRODUCTION
In the steel construction industry, the design and execution of joints always require to pay close attention
because typically they are the most critical points in the whole structure. In case of structural buildings,
the most common is the so-called beam-column joint. A joint between a horizontal beam that supports
vertical loads and is connected to a column transmitting internal forces through the joint. The European
code of design [1] classifies the joints as rigid, semi-rigid or simple joints according the joint stiffness
presenting some boundaries in which the joint and the beam stiffness are compared. The joints are
classified as well in the code according its moment resistance as full resistance joint, a joint with partial
resistance or a simple joint when is compared with the bending moment resistance of the connected
beam. Many times the beam-column joints behave as semi-rigid that means the beam transmits some
bending moment to the column proportional to the joint stiffness. To evaluate adequately the joint
behaviour and to know the amount of the bending moment transmitted through the joint, it is necessary to
characterize it and later to execute the joint consistently with the provisions of the design.
The Eurocode 3 [1] includes the component method as an approach for the characterization of joints
between open profiles but it does not include a consistent approach when a member of the joint is a
hollow section. Nevertheless the use of hollow section has increased lastly because of some advantages
[2] contributing many times to more effective solutions. There are then quite big groups of potentially
interesting joints involving hollow sections that cannot be characterized because their components have
not been studied yet to be included in the component method. Some previous research [3-4] has been
done to widen the scope of the component method in order to cover the hollow sections.
In an attempt to bridge partially this gap we are working in a research project focused in the
characterization of some components present in a double side beam-column joint (Figure 1) where the
beams are open profiles IPE and the column is a rectangular hollow section (RHS) or a square hollow
section (SHS). The IPE profile is very efficient in bending on the major axis that is the common situation
and the RHS are probably the most widely used among the hollow sections allowing quite simple welded
connections due to their flat walls. In the proposed beam-column joint, the flanges and web of beams are
welded to the faces of the hollow section and when the beams are under bending their flanges transmit
transverse compression (upper flanges) and transverse tension (bottom flanges) to the faces of the
tubular column. An initial step of approaching to the full beam-column joint is a double side welded
through plate-to-tube joint (Figure 2). The through plates simulate the upper or the bottom flanges of the
beam just applying compression or tension loads on both sides of the tube.
 Figure 1. Double side beam-column joints Figure 2. Double side through plate-to-tube joint

As it is a welded joint, another important consideration to take into account is the well known fact that the
process of welding affects the material properties in the heated affected zone (HAZ). In the past, research
has been done regarding the simulation of welded joints involving hollow sections where FE analysis,
validated and calibrated by tests, is used to perform parametric studies. One interesting piece of research
is [5], an overview of the main aspects of finite-element analyses relevant to welded hollow-section joints,
such as the choice of element type, material non-linearity and modelling of the welds. Some more specific
examples are [6] and [7], where results of experimental tests and corresponding numerical analysis on
longitudinal and through plate-to-HSS connections are presented. Some research effort has been
devoted as well [8] to the modeling of damage and residual stresses induced by welding or [9] the
quantification of the thermo-mechanical properties in multi-pass welds by means of numerical and
experimental approach. Some of the most accurate characterization methods for the HAZ are:
 The use of the gleeble for the production of microstructure samples and thermomechanical
simulation using moving heat source thermal models. By the introduction of cooling rates in these
models, the prediction of microstructures is also possible [10].
 Furthermore, in-situ HAZ microstructural evolution can be monitored using the synchrotron based
X-ray. The temperature-time evolution of the grain-size distribution and micro-strain can be
monitored in detail at specimen-relevant scales [11].
 The use of the small punch test for the mechanical characterization of the different zones that
characterize the HAZ [12].
This paper that is framed in the above mentioned project, is focused in the numerical modelling of the
through plate-to-tube joint but including the actual material properties in the heat affected zone. The
component “lateral faces of a rectangular hollow section” under compression and tension is studied here
in order to assess its initial stiffness and to propose a new design equation as an extension of the
component method to joints involving hollow section. The initial stiffness is the most important result for a
joint characterization and while at least there are some equations to determine the joint resistance there
are not any for the joint stiffness.
An initial evaluation of the mechanical properties of the heat-affected zone by means of tensile tests
assisted by digital image correlating, have been done. Digital image correlation is used to determine the
local displacement gradients and full-field displacements during a uniaxial tension test. The results are
implemented in the numerical FE study of the joint to reach a better validation of the model when
compare with the experimental results from tested joints.

2. EXPERIMENTAL
The experimental work reported on this paper has two well different parts. One is related with the whole
procedure that allows determining the extension and the material properties in the heated affected zone
due to the welding process. The second refers to the tests carried out on six double side through plate-to-
tube joints that are later used to validate and calibrate the numerical model.
2.1 Tests related with the HAZ properties
Material properties of the heat-affected zone were obtained from tensile specimens extracted from four
welded coupons, two different configurations for each tube thickness were studied in this work. For each
tube thickness, the coupons were welded in two different configurations. The first configuration was a
directly opposed twin fillet welded joint, the plate-to-tube used in the joint test and in the FEM
calculations. The second type was a flat butt welded joint, equivalent to the previous configuration
considering the plates’ thickness, the three-dimensional heat dissipation, the shrinkage and
transformation stresses and the heat input during welding.
The tension specimens were extracted from welded T-connection and complete butt joint penetration
specimens and fabricated from a 8 mm thick S275 steel plates welded to 4 and 6 mm thickness structural
tube by using electrode arc welding following the welding procedure specifications (WPS). A basic coated
electrode AWS/ASME: A5.1; SFA 5.1 E7018 was used. The specimens for the tensile test were then
extracted from the base metal, the deposited metal and the heat affected zone, as shown in figure 3. In
the fillet joint configuration (figure 4(a)) the 8mm thick plate was removed and the surface of the tube was
machined (figure 4(c)).

(b)
(a)

(d)

(c)
Figure 3. Opposed twin fillet welded joint of 8 mm plate to 4 mm tube test specimens. (a) As welded
coupon; (b) Macrographic examination of the welded coupon showed in figure (a); (c) Machined and
etched welded coupon after 8mm plate removal; (d) Tensile test specimen

Tensile tests were performed using an Instron 5583 with a strain rate of 15MPa/seg using flat-shaped
specimens 3mm thick and 10 mm in section. The length of the narrow portion of the specimen was 10
mm. For each configuration at least 3 tensile tests were taken. During the tensile tests, precise strains
were measured by an optical strain gauge system on the basis of digital image processing.
A commercial AVE 2 digital image correlation (DIC) system from INSTRON was used to measure the
displacement field during loading. The AVE uses a high-resolution digital camera and advanced real-time
image processing to make precise axial and transverse strain measurements on material test specimens.
Each welded coupon was sectioned through areas of interest using bandsaw followed by a low speed
precision diamond wafering saw. Four specimens were removed by cutting along the weld bead, retaining
some portion of weldment and base material.
The samples were wet grinding and polishing following typical sequence starting with 180 and following
with 220, 320, 400, 600, and 1200 grit wet papers. 6 micron diamond and finally 1 micron diamond
polishing finish off the samples. The cross-section samples were etched and examined under an optical
microscope. The etchant used was a 2% Nital solution. Results of tensile tests are presented in section 4.
2.2 Tests on plate-to-tube joints
Some experimental tests have been carried out to characterize the through plate-to-tube joint (Figure 2).
In these tests, a tension or a compression load is transmitted through a pair of plates welded to the tube
in a transversal position simulating the flanges of the open profile beam. After the pieces are positioned in
a universal testing machine, MTS with 250kN of load capacity, tension or compression loads were applied
through the plates until the maximum load was reached in order to obtain force-displacement plots on
several points of the rectangular hollow section. For the tests on joints under compression, a rod was
positioned one end of tube avoiding any rotation. The tests were carried out under displacement control
at a speed of 2mm/min. A photogrammetry system Aramis 5M was used to measure with more accuracy
the deformations during the tests. It is a non-contact and material independent measuring system that
provides accurate 3D surface coordinates, 3D displacements, surface strain values and strain rates. By
means of this system, the displacements synchronized with the applied load are obtained in a quite big
area over which the cameras were focussed. Figure 4 shows a joint during a compression test, the area
of interest marked on the specimen, and a third picture with the chosen reference points in the lateral wall
and in the bottom of the tubular section. Figure 5 shows a map of curves with the same displacement.

Figure 4. Compression test conducted with the support of photogrammetry system Aramis 5M

Figure 5. Sample of displacements map

From a quite extensive experimental program carried out on the above-described joints six of them –three
in tension and three in compression- were selected to validate the numerical model. These specific joints
combine tubes of RHS200x100x6, RHS150x100x4 and RHS100x100x6 with plates of 8mm thickness and
were tested under tension and compression. Results of these selected tests for comparison with the FEA
are presented in section 4.
3. NUMERICAL SIMULATION
The through plate-RHS joint was modelled in the general purpose finite element software ANSYS 16.1
including material and geometrical non-linearities. Solid185 elements were selected for these simulations.
At least three elements were placed in the thickness of the different plates (faces of RHS and loading
plate). The model was loaded by applying a controlled displacement and a double symmetry was
considered in the test in order to save computational time.

Figure 6. FEA model

The welds have been geometrically idealized as conjunction of some prismatic and tetrahedral parts, as
can be seen in figure 6, but the actual measured dimensions of the weld beads were used in the model.
For the material model of the weld bead, the nominal values provided by the manufacturer were used
(fy=500 MPa, fu=570 MPa). Since the results obtained from tests in section 2.1, have not given worse
values of yield and ultimate strength of the material for the HAZ than for the original material of the RHS
and the loading plate (Table 1), the HAZ has not been considered as a different part. However, a previous
work [13] suggested that in cold-formed RHS it is necessary to consider the strain hardening caused
mainly in the corners by the forming process. In order to take into account this, the present FEM uses the
Eurocode proposal for the average material properties of cold-formed open profiles. The code gives an
average yield limit fya from the yield and ultimate strength of the base material (fyb, fub) and taking into
account the thickness (t) and the cross section area (A) as it is presented in Eq. (1):
 t2 
f ya  f yb   28     f ub  f yb  (1)
 A
Since the base material’s properties were not provided and they are not exactly known, the material
properties of the faces were taken instead of them. A bi-linear material model was used in the FEM by
taking the elastic part until the yield limit and then, an approximated tangent modulus of 1000 MPa from
that yielding point.

4. RESULTS
Table 1 shows the actual mechanical properties of the tubes and plates in the base material (non affected
material column) and in the heated affected zone due to the welding process (HAZ column). The yield
limit fy, the ultimate strength fu and the Young modulus E, for both zones are presented. These results
were obtained from standard tensile test carried out on specimens taken from the tube walls or from the
plate in case of the base material and following the procedure described in section 2.1 for the HAZ area.
Table 1. Actual material properties in base material and HAZ

Non affected material HAZ properties

fy [Mpa] fu [Mpa] E [Gpa] fy [Mpa] fu [Mpa] E [Gpa]
RHS t=4mm 369 459 195 407 477 197
RHS t=6mm 433 503 201 446 561 204
Plate of 8 with tube of 4mm 365 494 212
364 516 213
Plate of 8 with tube of 6mm 381 492 224
As long as the results did not present significant differences when base material and HAZ zone compared
we can say that there was not a clear deterioration of these materials after welding.
As it was stated in the introduction, the main objective of this work is to assess the initial stiffness of the
component “lateral faces of RHS” in order to finally obtain a new design equation to be used in the
extension of the component method to joints involving hollow sections. This aim leaded us to study mainly
the initial part of the force-displacement curve. For this purpose, the relative displacement between the
center of the welded joint and the horizontal mid-plane of the RHS was measured in the FEM and in the
experimental tests.
In figures 7, the force-displacement curves until a displacement of 0,5 mm are shown. This value is the
half of 1% of the face width, which is generally taken as the serviceability deformation limit in joints
involving RHS [14]. A good agreement can be observed between experimental tests and FE model.

Figure 7. Test vs. FEM in load-displacement curves

Table 2 presents the initial stiffness obtained in tests and FEM for the different samples and simulations
and differences between them. This table shows that a good agreement was reached for this sensitive
property.
Table 2 Comparison of initial stiffness in joints

Stiffness TEST [kN/mm] Stiffness FEM [kN/mm] Difference [%]

Tension Compression Tension Compression Tension Compression
RHS 150×100×4-P8 517,1 508,8 506,3 512,5 -2,1 0,7
RHS 200×100×6-P8 604,6 606,8 615,9 615,8 1,9 1,5
RHS 100×100×6-P8 737,2 727,5 756,8 752,5 2,7 3,4

5. CONCLUSIONS
An examination of the initial stiffness of the component “lateral faces of RHS” in some through plate-to-
tube joints, to be able to extend the component method to joints involving hollow sections has been
undertaken using a numerical finite element parametric study considering the joint under both tension and
compression. The actual material properties on the heated affected zone due to the welding process as
well as the extension of the HAZ were obtained for the considered joints in order to be implemented in the
numerical model if necessary. From this research some observations and conclusions can be outlined.
First, in case of the steel used for the joints, its material properties, in the heated affected zone, were not
deteriorated as a consequence of the welding process followed to weld these joints.
Second the adopted numerical model to simulate the joints provided a very good agreement with the test
results from the plate-to-tube joints when the initial stiffness of the joint is compared.
Third the parametric model developed in this paper is a cost-effective tool to assess the component
“lateral faces” of a Rectangular hollow section when it is connected to a transverse plate.
Future work will be focused on the extension of the model to consider the full beam-column joint describe
above in this paper and to propose an analytical equation to evaluate the stiffness of the component.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors acknowledge the financial support provided by the Spanish R&D National Program of the
Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness to this work as a part of the research project BIA2013-43177-
P. The project has been co-financed with FEDER funds. Also they would like to express gratitude to the
CIDECT for partially funding the project 5CE.

REFERENCES
[1] CEN. Eurocode 3: Design of Steel Structures – Part 1-8: Design of Joints. EN-1993-1-8: 2005.
European Committee for Standardization; 2005.
[2] Wardenier J. Hollow sections in structural applications. CIDECT; 2000.
[3] Jaspart J.P., Pietrapertosa C., Weynand K., Busse E., Klinkhammer R., Grimault J.P. Development of
a Full Consistent Design Approach for Bolted and Welded Joints in Building Frames and Trusses
between Steel Members Made of Hollow and/or Open Sections- Application of the Component Method.
Report 5BP-4/05. CIDECT, University of Liege, PSP Technologien GmbH, ARCELOR Tubes, Liege;
2005.
[4] López-Colina C., Serrano M.A., Gayarre F.L., González J. The component ‘lateral faces of RHS’ under
compression at ambient and high temperature. International Journal of Steel Structures, 2014; 14(1): 13-
22.
[5] van der Vegte G.J., Wardenier J. and Puthli R.S. FE Analysis for Welded Hollow-Section Joints and
Bolted Joints, Structures and Buildings. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, 2010; 163(SB6):
427-437.
[6] Kosteski, N. and Packer, J.A. Longitudinal Plate and Through Plate-to-HSS Welded Connections.
Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE, 2003; 129(4): 478-486.
[7] Kosteski, N. and Packer, J.A. Welded Tee-to-HSS Connections. Journal of Structural Engineering,
ASCE, 2003; 129(4): 151-159.
[8] Wu, T., Coret, M. Combescure, A. Numerical simulation of welding induced damage and residual
stress of martensitic steel 15-5PH. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 2008; 45: 4973-4989.
[9] Genchev, G., Dreibati,O., Ossenbrink, R., Doynov, N., Michailov, V. Physical and Numerical
Simulation of the Heat-Affected Zone of Multi-Pass Welds, Materials Science Forum,2013; 762: 544-550.
[10] Adonyi, Y. Heat-affected zone characterization by physical simulations - An overview on the use of
the gleeble discusses the advantages and disadvantages of thermomechanical simulation, Welding
Journal, 2006; 85(10): 42–47.
[11] Advanced Techniques for In-Situ Monitoring of Phase Transformations during Welding Using
Synchrotron-Based X-Ray Diffraction - Heat Treating Society, in Trends in Welding Research:
Proceedings of the 7th International Conference 2005 (ASM International:. 901–910.
[12] Rodriguez, C., Cabezas, J. G., Cardenas, E., Belzunce, F. J. and Betegon, C., Mechanical Properties
Characterization of Heat-Affected Zone Using the Small Punch Test, Welding Journal, 2009; 88(9):188S–
192S.
[13] López-Colina C., Serrano M.A., Lozano M., Gayarre F.L. Approaches for the material properties of
cold formed RHS. 8th International Symposium on Steel Structures, KSSC, Seoul, 2015; pp 229-230.
[14] Zhao X.L. Deformation limit and ultimate strength of welded T-joints in cold-formed RHS sections.
Journal of Constructional Steel Research, 2000; 53 149-165.