Engineering Structures 210 (2020) 110341

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Engineering Structures
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/engstruct

Study on I-shaped section steel braces partially strengthened by induction T

heating
Yuan Liua, , Masanori Tania, Masahiro Kurataa, Chikai Wataseb, Minehiro Nishiyamaa
⁎

a
Department of Architecture and Architectural Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
b
Nihonsekkei, Tokyo, Japan

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: Induction heating is an advanced technology to strengthen the selected region of steel materials. Recent ad-
Steel brace vancement of the new treatment technique to partially strengthen large-scale steel components opens new re-
Partial strengthening search areas for civil engineering applications. This research explores the development of an innovative type of
Induction heating braces with the I-shaped section partially strengthened by induction heating. Therefore, when the normal-
I-shaped section
strength region of the brace enters the plastic stage, the induction-heated region can remain elastic before large
Seismic performance
deformations. This paper presents the design concept, numerical analysis, and the preliminary experiments on
the proposed induction-heated braces, and finally clarifies the mechanism. The analysis results indicate that the
induction-heated length and width greatly improve the tensile performances, and the larger induction-heated
length relocates the hinge region after buckling, which is potential to stabilize the compressive behavior. The
tensile coupon test results show that the yield strength and the tensile strength of the induction-heated region are
raised up to 1.23 and 1.40 times of these of the normal-strength region. The preliminary experiments show that
the proposed induction-heated braces succeed in achieving better tensile performances as well as reducing strain
concentrations at the brace middle. However, the buckling loads of the induction-heated brace specimens are
lower mainly due to the initial imperfections resulted from the induction heating process.

1. Introduction applications. As Fig. 1 shows, induction heating is an advanced tech-

Conventional buckling steel braces (CBBs) have been widely used
for seismic force resisting in the new and existing buildings. CBB is
generally designed to resist the axial tensile load under seismic force
and provide the lateral stiffness to the frame. However, after yielding,
the stiffness of CBB suddenly drops, which significantly weakens the
lateral stiffness provided for the frame. Besides, CBB loses a great
amount of compressive capacity after buckling, especially the one with
large slenderness ratio [1–3], and the strain concentration at the middle
part of the specimen leads to the local buckling, which eventually lead
to the fracture at the brace middle [4–5]. To improve the aforemen-
tioned features, many efforts have been made in the past few decades,
including the improved design scheme of the brace-beam-column con-
nections [6–9], development of buckling-restrained braces with steel
tube or fiber layers [10–13], and so on.
Induction heating technology, which has been applied to the me-
chanical parts and prestressing tendons, recently becomes available for
large-scale structural steel components for civil engineering
nology that by heating the selected region up to 1000 °C and quenching
it in the cool water, the strength of the selected region can be raised up
to 2 to 3 times [14,15]. Recent advancement in manufacturing tech-
niques enables the induction heating on the conventional structural
steel components, especially the long ones with hollow sections and I-
shaped sections. The partial strengthening of such component opens the
door for new research exploration in creating new structural compo-
nents with different strength.
Owing to the strength difference brought by induction heating
process, when the normal-strength region yields, the induction-heated
high-strength region can remain elastic before reaching large dis-
placements. Therefore, the normal-strength region is able to exert the
deformability, while the high-strength region maintains the load ca-
pacity, which is beneficial to improve the post-yielding and post-
buckling behavior of the whole brace. Besides, the column-beam-brace
joint which may be weakened by the bolt holes can also be strength-
ened by induction heating instead of enlarging the cross-sectional area,
hence it is economical in the aspect of fabricating. Moreover, because of

Corresponding author.
⁎

E-mail addresses: rc.liu@archi.kyoto-u.ac.jp (Y. Liu), tani@archi.kyoto-u.ac.jp (M. Tani), kurata.masahiro.5c@kyoto-u.ac.jp (M. Kurata),
mn@archi.kyoto-u.ac.jp (M. Nishiyama).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2020.110341
Received 5 October 2019; Received in revised form 3 February 2020; Accepted 3 February 2020
Available online 17 February 2020
0141-0296/ © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Y. Liu, et al. Engineering Structures 210 (2020) 110341

Normal strength
I-shaped
region
section
steel

Heating region
Coil
Quenching region

Cool water
Induction-heated
region

Fig. 1. Induction heating process (Neturen Co., Ltd.).

the unchanged configuration and connection of the brace, no additional

steel material and no modifications of connection design are needed.
Recent experimental studies on the partially strengthened large-
scale hollow section steel braces, of which the half section or the middle
part along the length was induction-heated [16–18], showed that they
reached a higher post-yielding stiffness compared to the normal one, of
which the ratios were 1.20 times and 1.06 times, respectively, and the
buckling loads were increased and delayed to a larger axial strain.
However, there is no relative research on the I-shaped section steel
brace so far, which is one of the most-commonly-used shape of large-
scale braces. This is partly due to the challenges in applying induction
heating to open cross-section components where the control of initial
imperfection induced by induction heating process is more difficult.
Yet, the different function of the flange and web in resisting the bending
moment and shear force respectively increases the flexibility of the
induction-heated patterns, and the differentiation of the major and
minor axis renders the I-shaped section steel brace work more effec-
tively in the selected direction. The relatively simple connection design
of I-shaped section steel brace compared to the hollow section steel
brace makes it more applicable in practice. Thus, the application of
induction heating technology to I-shaped section steel brace is worth
investigating.
This paper proposes an innovative type of I-shaped section steel
brace which is partially strengthened by induction heating technology
(Induction-heated brace, IHB). The design concept is first introduced
and finite element method (FEM) analysis is conducted on IHBs with
various arrangement of induction-heated length, width, location and
strength. The influence of induction-heated configurations on the ten-
sile and buckling behaviors are discussed. Then, the feasibility of design
concept and the analysis results are verified by the preliminary ex-
perimental tests on CBB and two kinds of IHB scaled specimens. Next, to
figure out the structural performance of the brace, the mechanism
based on the analysis results is clarified. Finally, the limitations of this
research including the Vickers hardness test results and the deformed
cross section are discussed.
2. IHB design
Fig. 2. Assumed brace type.
the gusset plates are welded to the beam-column connections. The ex-
pected improvements in structural performance is analytically ex-
amined.
Various arrangements of induction-heated patterns are considered
as an initial trial. Fig. 3 presents the suggested configurations of in-
duction-heated braces.a , b are defined as the ratios of the total induc-
tion-heated length to the test length, and the total induction-heated
width to the flange width, respectively.
CBB is the conventional buckling brace that the test length is not
treated by induction heating process. IHB-L, IHB-3L and IHB-2EL
(a = 40, 60%) are the series that the flange is induction-heated at the
middle, at three parts, and at the middle and two ends for a % to the test
length in the axial direction, respectively. IHB-W (b = 20, 40%) is the
series that the flange is induction-heated at one side to the flange width
in the axial direction.
IHB-L series is designed to investigate the effect of induction-heated
length on the structural performance, and IHB-W series is to investigate
the effect of induction-heated width. Additionally, in order to figure out
the variation of structural performances resulted from the distributed
induction-heated length, IHB-3L and IHB-2EL series, of which the total
induction-heated lengths are the same as IHB-L, are put forward.

In this research, the I-shaped 100 × 100 × 6 × 8 section steel will

be discussed. One of the most conventional brace types, the brace 3. Numerical simulations
connected to gusset plates by high strength bolts, as shown in Fig. 2, is
studied to evaluate the effect of induction heating and its arrangement. The commercial FEM code ABAQUS [19] was used to investigate the
In real applications, the brace is installed to steel frames diagonally and effect of induction-heated length, width, location and strength of IHBs.

2
Y. Liu, et al.
Fig. 3. Configurations of IHBs.
3.1. Modeling
Fig. 4 shows the modeling details. Half-scaled braces with I-shaped
100 × 100 × 6 × 8 section were analyzed. The test length was
1503 mm. The specimen length including the test length and induction-
heated ends was 1783 mm. The supported length including the spe-
cimen length and the length of gusset plates was assumed to be
2241 mm. The specimen ends were assumed to be induction-heated to
prevent the yielding and fracture at the joints. The length of gusset
plates here was simulated as multi-point constrains connected to the
specimen. The slenderness ratio was 90. The analysis model was con-
sisted of shell elements and divided into elements every 10 mm.
Monotonic loading was applied to the specimen from one support
which was assumed to be roller (only rotatable in the minor axis and
movable in the axial direction) to the peak axial strain of 2.4% both in
tension and compression, and the other support was considered as pin
(only rotatable in the minor axis). The axial strain was defined as the
ratio of the axial deformation to the supported length (2241 mm).
As Fig. 5 shows, the material of normal-strength region was as-
sumed to be SS400 in Japan (corresponded to ASTM A36 in the United
States) and considered as modified Menegotto-Pinto bilinear model
[20,21]. The elastic stiffness was 205,000 MPa, and the post-yielding
stiffness was 0.75% of the elastic stiffness. The strength ratio of the
induction-heated region to normal-strength region (induction-heated
strength ratio) was assumed to be two unless otherwise stated.
Fig. 4. Modeling details.
3
Engineering Structures 210 (2020) 110341
3.2. Effect of induction-heated length
IHB-L series is designed to investigate the effect of induction-heated
length on the structural performance, and Fig. 6 shows the load ratio-
axial strain relationships of CBB, IHB-L40, 60, and the enlarged figure
around the buckling point. The load ratio is defined as the ratio of the
load to CBB’s yield load. The positive and negative values on the hor-
izontal axis are the tensile and compressive axial strain, and those on
the vertical axis are the tensile and compressive load ratio, respectively.
Table 1 summarizes the load capacities of CBB, and IHB-L40, 60. The
ratio is the corresponding value to CBB. The yield load is defined at the
first point when the stiffness starts to reduce under tension. The
buckling load is defined at the first point when the load capacity starts
to reduce under compression regardless of the growing axial strain.
The figures show that, all of them yield approximately at the same
loads because it is determined by the strength of untreated region. After
yielding, the stiffness of each specimen improves monotonously. The
post-yielding stiffnesses of IHB-L40 and IHB-L60 are 1.61 and 2.31
times of that of CBB, indicating that IHB-L series is able to keep larger
stiffness even after yielding. In terms of the compressive performance,
CBB and IHB-L40 buckle almost at the same loads. IHB-L60 buckles at a
larger compressive load, of which the ratio to CBB is 1.05, and the
reason will be discussed later. After buckling, the decrease of com-
pressive capacity of IHB-L series is decelerated, showing that IHB-L
series is potential to exert better compressive performance than CBB.
Fig. 7 and Table 2 show the conditions and values of the transverse
Y. Liu, et al. Engineering Structures 210 (2020) 110341

1200

Normal-strength region
800

Stress (MPa) High-strength region (2 times)

High-strength region (3 times)

400

0
0 0.1
Strain
Fig. 5. Material properties.

2 CBB 0

IHB-L40

IHB-L60
1
Load ratio

-0.5

-1 -1
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 -0.5 -0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0
Axial strain (%) Axial strain (%)
Fig. 6. Load ratio-axial strain relationships: effect of induction-heated length.

Table 1 Table 2
Load capacities: effect of induction-heated length. Transverse deformations: effect of induction-heated length.
Specimen Yield load Post-yielding stiffness Buckling load Specimen Transverse deformation

(kN) Ratio (MPa) Ratio (kN) Ratio (mm) Location (mm) Ratio (%)

CBB 517.9 1.00 1968 1.00 369.4 1.00 CBB 171.0 885.6 49.7
IHB-L 40 520.1 1.00 3175 1.61 367.5 0.99 IHB-L 40 132.3 888.7 49.8
60 523.7 1.01 4553 2.31 386.2 1.05 60 113.2 350.8 19.7

deformations of CBB and IHB-L40, 60 at 2.4% peak axial compressive
strain. The location in the table is defined as the distance from the hinge
region to the closest end, and the ratio is the distance divided by the
specimen length.
For CBB, the hinge region forms at the middle along the length. For
IHB-L40, the hinge region first occurs at one boundary between the
normal-strength and high-strength regions, and then occurs at another
boundary, which seems like the whole induction-heated middle part
moves rigidly in the minor axis direction. For IHB-L60, the hinge region
relocates at one end, of which the location is 19.7% to the specimen

Ave:

CBB IHB-L40 IHB-L60

Unit: MPa
Fig. 7. Transverse deformations: effect of induction-heated length.

4
Y. Liu, et al. Engineering Structures 210 (2020) 110341

2
2 CBB
1.5
IHB-W20
1
IHB-W40 0.5
1
Load ratio 0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5

0 0

-0.5
-1
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
-1
Axial strain (%) -0.5 -0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0
Axial strain (%)
Fig. 8. Load ratio-axial strain relationships: effect of induction-heated width.

length. Generally, the hinge occurs at brace middle after buckling like 2 CBB
CBB, however, for IHB-L60, the hinge moves from the middle to one
end because of the higher strength at the middle. The resistance of the IHB-L60
transverse deformation at the middle part leads to the hinge relocation,
and therefore improves the buckling behavior of IHB-L60. IHB-3L60
1
IHB-2EL60
3.3. Effect of induction-heated width
Load ratio

IHB-W series is designed to investigate the effect of induction-he-

ated width, and Fig. 8 shows the load ratio-axial strain relationships of 0
CBB, IHB-W20, 40, and the enlarged figure around the yield and
buckling point. Table 3 summarizes the load capacities. Because IHB-W
yields by stages, the yield load here is presented as the load when the
normal-strength region yields. And the post-yielding stiffness is defined -1
as the gradient between the points when the normal-strength region -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
yields and the induction-heated high-strength region yields. Axial strain (%)
The results reveal that the brace yields by several stages, because
the normal-strength region yields at first and then the high-strength Fig. 9. Load ratio-axial strain relationships: effect of induction-heated location.
region yields. The post-yielding stiffnesses of IHB-W20 and IHB-W40
before the induction-heated high-strength region yields are 15.57 and Table 4
34.98 times of CBB, respectively. In terms of the compressive behavior, Load capacities: effect of induction-heated location.
all of the specimens buckle at the same loads, however, the decrease of
Specimen Yield load Post-yielding stiffness Buckling load
compressive capacity of IHB-W series is decelerated. In terms of the
transverse deformation, the hinges of IHB-W form at the middle of the (kN) Ratio (MPa) Ratio (kN) Ratio
brace, and the ratios of the hinge location to the specimen length are
CBB 517.9 1.00 1968 1.00 369.4 1.00
approximately 49.1% for both IHB-W20 and IHB-W40.
IHB-L 60 523.7 1.01 4553 2.31 386.2 1.05
IHB-3L 60 526.1 1.02 4731 2.40 368.8 1.00
3.4. Effect of induction-heated location IHB-2EL 60 525.0 1.01 4518 2.30 367.6 0.99

In order to figure out the variation of structural performances re-

Table 5
sulted from the distributed induction-heated locations, especially for
Transverse deformations: effect of induction-heated location.
the effect on the buckling mode [22], IHB-3L and IHB-2EL, of which the
total induction-heated lengths are the same as IHB-L are analyzed, and Specimen Transverse deformation
Fig. 9 shows the load ratio-axial strain relationships of CBB, IHB-L60,
(mm) Location (mm) Ratio (%)
3L60 and 2EL60. Table 4 and 5 summarize the load capacities and
CBB 171.0 885.6 49.7
Table 3 IHB-L 60 113.2 350.8 19.7
Load capacities: effect of induction-heated width. IHB-3L 60 161.0 859.1 48.2
IHB-2EL 60 179.0 622.7 34.9
Specimen Yield load Post-yielding stiffness Buckling load

(kN) Ratio (MPa) Ratio (kN) Ratio

transverse deformations of them, respectively. The results reveal that
CBB 517.9 1.00 1968 1.00 369.4 1.00 the distributed induction-heated region is insignificant to the im-
IHB-W 20 529.4 1.02 30,642 15.57 371.0 1.00 provement of the load capacity of the whole brace. The hinge region
40 544.8 1.05 68,844 34.98 371.0 1.00 moves due to the distributed high-strength region as expected,

5
Y. Liu, et al. Engineering Structures 210 (2020) 110341

2 CBB 2 CBB
IHB-L60 (2 times)
IHB-L60 (3 times) IHB-W40
1 1 (2 times)

Load ratio IHB-W40

(3 times)

0 0

-1 -1
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
Axial strain (%) Axial strain (%)
Fig. 10. Load-axial strain relationships: effect of induction-heated strength ratio.

however, the locations of the hinge region of IHB-3L60 and IHB-2EL60

are not as distinctive as IHB-L60.

3.5. Effect of induction-heated strength ratio

Above all, IHB-L60 and IHB-W40 show better structural perfor-

mances when the variables are the induction-heated length and in-
duction-heated width, respectively. To investigate the effect of induc-
tion-heated strength ratio (the strength of induction-heated region to
the normal-strength region) on the structural performance, IHB-L60
and IHB-W40 with the induction-heated strength ratio of 2 and 3 are
analyzed. Fig. 10 shows the load-axial strain relationships of CBB, IHB-
L60 and IHB-W40 when the induction-heated strength is 2 or 3 times of
the normal-strength region. For IHB-L series, the load-axial strain re-
lationship does not change with the rise of induction-heated strength
ratio because the induction-heated region does not yield during the
monotonic loading. By comparison, for IHB-W series, not only the
tensile performance including the post-yielding stiffness and the max-
imum tensile load, but also the post-buckling behavior improve with
the ascent of induction-heated strength ratio.

4. Preliminary experimental tests

The analysis results revealed that IHB-L60 and IHB-W40 were able
to achieve better structural performances. To verify the feasibility of the
proposed approach in enhancing the brace behavior, three half-scaled
braces CBB, IHB-L60 and IHB-W40 were selected and tested. The spe-
cimen details were the same as mentioned.

4.1. End connection details Fig. 11. End connection details (Unit: mm).

Fig. 11 shows the end connection details of the specimen. It was
based on the capacity design approach, and the capacity ratio was 1.10.
The specimen was connected to the gusset plates by F10TM16 high-
strength bolts. Fin stiffeners, which were welded to gusset plates, were
used to extend the flange of the specimen to the gusset plates. Two
kinds of splice plates were used to transmit the friction from high-
strength bolts.
4.2. Loading setup
Fig. 12 shows the schematic of the loading setup. The jack was
connected to the specimen horizontally by another I-shaped section
steel component, and this steel component was pushed or pull by the
jack along a pair of steel channel to ensure that cyclic displacements
would be applied to the specimen axially. Teflon sheet with low-friction
was settled between the channel and I-shaped section steel component.
Fully reversed cyclic displacements were applied to the specimen with
peak axial strain of 0.10, 0.15, 0.30, 0.45, 0.60, 0.90, 1.20, 1.80, 2.40%.
Two full cycles were applied at each peak strain, except for 2.40%
where four cycles were applied. The axial strain was defined as the ratio
of the axial deformation to the supported length (2241 mm).
4.3. Coupon test results
The coupon specimens for material tests were cut from an induc-
tion-heated I-shaped section steel that was treated under the same
condition of IHB-L60 and IHB-W40. SS400 (corresponded to ASTM A36
in the United States) was used. The results of material test are sum-
marized in Table 6. The yield strength and the tensile strength of in-
duction-heated region were approximately 1.23 and 1.40 times of
normal-strength region, respectively. It was lower-than-expected
mainly because of the limited carbon content of steel (C = 0.1%) and
the difficulty in quenching a large-scale I-shaped section steel in a rapid
speed. Besides, the fracture strain of induction-heated region was about

6
Y. Liu, et al.
Fig. 12. Loading setup (Unit: mm).
half of the normal-strength region due to the lower ductility after in-
duction heating.
4.4. Load-axial strain relationship
Fig. 13 shows the load-axial strain relationships of CBB, IHB-L60,
and IHB-W40 with yielding, buckling, maximum tensile load points.
Tables 7 and 8 summarize the tensile load and compressive load ca-
pacities, respectively.
IHB-L60 and IHB-W40 showed better tensile performances than
CBB. The yield load and the maximum tensile load of IHB-L60 were
1.10 times and 1.22 times, the ones of IHB-W40 were 1.25 times and
1.29 times of CBB, respectively. IHB-L60 reached the yield load at the
smallest axial strain among all the specimens. In terms of the com-
pressive performance, the buckling loads of IHB-L60 and IHB-W40 were
lower than that of CBB, of which the ratios were 0.88 and 0.73, re-
spectively. It could mainly be contributed to the larger initial im-
perfections of IHB series than CBB due to the induction heating process
[23]. IHB-L60 showed a more stable post-buckling behavior than CBB.
In addition, the overall buckling of IHB-W40 occurred at the smallest
strain mainly because it was treated asymmetrically only at one side of
the flange. The local buckling of IHB-L60 and IHB-W40 occurred at
larger axial strains than CBB, suggesting that IHB series succeeded in
relieving strain concentration, which would be beneficial to delay the
fracture of the specimen.
4.5. Buckling behavior
Fig. 14 shows the photos at the end of loading and the transverse
deformations at each peak axial strain of CBB, IHB-L60 and IHB-W40.
The locations of the displacement transducers started from one end to
the other, where the end plates were located at 0 mm and 2241 mm.
The largest transverse deformation of IHB-L60 occurred at the middle
and it was approximately 303.1 mm at the peak axial strain of 2.4% at
the first cycle, showing that the hinge did not relocate from the middle
to one end as analyzed. It was because the induction-heated region did
not reach the target strength as planned that the concentration of
plastic strain occurred at the middle part of the brace. Besides, the
transverse deformation of CBB and IHB-W40 were almost the same as
that of IHB-L60.
Although the transverse deformations were similar among the three
specimens, the local buckling at the brace middle of them were quite
different. Fig. 15 describes local buckling at the middle of each spe-
cimen at the end of loading. The local buckling at the middle of IHB-L60
and IHB-W40 were not as significant as that of CBB, demonstrating that
Table 6
Coupon test results.
Type Elastic modulus (x105MPa)
Normal-strength region 1.94
Induction-heated region 1.96
* 0.2% offset stress.
Engineering Structures 210 (2020) 110341
the induction-heated region prevented the occurrence of local buckling
effectively. The reason for the minor local buckling will be discussed in
the next section.
4.6. Strain in the axial direction
Fig. 16 shows the locations of strain gauges in the axial direction.
The average strain of two strain gauges at the inner or outer side of the
flanges at the first cycle of 0.45, 0.90, and 2.40% strains are shown in
Fig. 17. The positive and negative values on the vertical axis mean the
tensile and compressive strain, respectively.
Before reaching 0.45% strain, the strain started to concentrate at the
middle of CBB, the middle and one end of IHB-L60, and the middle of
IHB-W40. Because the strain concentration of IHB-L60 was dispersed to
several regions, the maximum tensile and compressive strains at the
0.45% peak axial strain were 14.3% and 23.5% lower than that of CBB,
respectively. Regarding IHB-W40, the maximum tensile strain at the
normal-strength region and the maximum compressive strain at the
induction-heated region at the 0.45% peak axial strain were 29.18%
larger and 8.3% lower than that of CBB, respectively, meaning that the
normal-strength region exerted better deformability.
After reaching 0.90% strain, the strain concentration of CBB moved
from the middle to one end, and the strains at 2.4% peak axial strain
were lower than 0.94% at the middle and one end, and approximately
2.30% at the other end. The strain concentration of IHB-L60 moved to
two ends, which indicated that the normal-strength region succeeded in
resisting greater deformation. The strains at 2.4% peak axial strain were
lower than 1.51% at the induction-heated middle part, but up to 2.83%
at the ends. For IHB-W40, the strains were rather uniformly distributed,
which ranged from −0.49% to 1.52% at 2.4% peak axial strain,
showing that the whole specimen was involved in the resistance to
deformation.
5. Clarification of the mechanism
As shown in Fig. 18, when the normal-strength region enters the
plastic stage under loading, the induction-heated region is able to be in
the elastic stage before reaching large deformations. Given that the
brace can be considered as a set of springs, the equivalent stiffness of
braces before the yielding of normal-strength region is E , where E is the
elastic stiffness of the material. After the yielding of normal-strength
region and before the yielding of induction-heated region, the equiva-
lent stiffness of braces K can be written as
K CBB = E' (1)
Yield strength (MPa) Tensile strength (MPa) Fracture strain (%)
316.6 418.7 26
389.6* 585.7 14
7
Y. Liu, et al. Engineering Structures 210 (2020) 110341

1000 1000
824.8
750 CBB 593.8 675.2 750 IHB-L60 652.9

500 500

Load 250 250

0 0

-250 -250

-500 -532.4
-605.7 -500
Compression Tension Compression Tension
-750 -750
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
Axial strain (%) Axial strain (%)

1000 873.8
742 Yielding
IHB-W40 742.0
750 Maximum tensile load
Buckling
500
Post-yielding stiffness of CBB
250 Post-buckling curve of CBB
Load

-250
-442.6
-500
Compression Tension
-750
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
Axial strain (%)
Fig. 13. Load-axial strain relationships of CBB, IHB-L60 and IHB-W40.

Table 7
Tensile loads of CBB, IHB-L60 and IHB-W40.
Specimen Elastic stiffness Yield load Maximum tensile load

5
(x10 MPa) (kN) Ratio Cycle (kN) Ratio Cycle

CBB 2.05 593.8 1.00 0.15% 1st 675.2 1.00 2.4% 1st
IHB-L60 2.06 652.9 1.10 0.10% 1st 824.8 1.22
IHB-W40 2.07 742.0 1.25 0.15% 1st 873.8 1.29

Table 8 region of IHB-W series, the equivalent stiffness of braces becomes E',
Compressive loads of CBB, IHB-L60 and IHB-W40. the same as that of CBB. But for IHB-L series, when the induction-heated
Specimen Overall buckling Local buckling strength ratio is large enough, the induction-heated region will keep
unyielded.
(kN) Ratio Cycle Cycle Assume the initial imperfection a0 is in sinusoidal wave [24], the
buckling load Nc can be calculated as
CBB 605.7 1.00 0.15% 1st 0.90% 2nd
IHB-L60 532.4 0.88 0.15% 1st 1.80% 2nd
IHB-W40 442.6 0.73 0.10% 2nd 1.80% 2nd
Ny
Nc =
a0 A Nc
1+ Nc
sin 2
Ncr
S 1
Ncr (4)
1
KIHB L = A 1
a+ (1 a) where Ny is the yield load, S is the elastic section modulus of the cross
2EAf + E 'Aw E' (2)
section, Ncr is Euler buckling load.
After buckling, in general, the hinge region tends to occur at the
2EAf 2Af
KIHB = b + E ' (1 b) middle along the length, such as CBB. However, for IHB-L, because of
W
A A (3)
the higher strength at the very middle part along the length, the hinge
where E' is the post-yielding stiffness of the material, Aw is the area of region is relocated in the analysis. Fig. 19 shows an idealization of a
the web (=504 mm), Af is the area of one flange (=800 mm), A is the buckled pin-supported brace in compression. Based on Shanley’s model
total area (=2104 mm). After the yielding of the induction-heated [25,26], the post-buckling behavior can be expressed as

8
Y. Liu, et al. Engineering Structures 210 (2020) 110341

CBB

deformation (mm) 320

240 CBB
Transverse

160
80
0
0 232.5 520.5 1120.5 1720.5 2008.5 2241
Transducers location (mm)

IHB-L60
deformation (mm)

320
IHB-L60
Transverse

240
160
80
0
0 232.5 520.5 1120.5 1720.5 2008.5 2241
Transducers location (mm)

IHB-W40

320
deformation (mm)

240 IHB-W40
Transverse

160
80
0
0 232.5 520.5 1120.5 1720.5 2008.5 2241
Transducers location (mm)
0.15% 0.45% 0.90% 1.80% 2.40%
Fig. 14. Transverse deformations at the end of loading and at each peak axial strain.

A N 1 Ny 2 imperfection along the length, deformed cross section and so on, the
= + 2
1 comparisons between the experimental results were not presented.
y Ny 2 2x (1 x ) c N (5)
Despite that, the calculation results captured the analysis results well.
where A is the axial strain, y is the yield strain of normal-strength steel,
N is the axial compressive load, x is the ratio of the hinge location to
6. Discussions
the length (approximately 50% of CBB and IHB-W40, 20% of IHB-L60
according to the analysis results), c is the normalized slenderness ratio
Ny
It was a new challenge to employ the induction heating technology
( c = =0.94). to the large-scale I-shaped section structural steel, and thus there were
Ncr
Fig. 20 shows the comparisons between the analysis and calculation some unexpected limitations in the preliminary experimental tests. The
results of CBB, IHB-L60 and IHB-W40. The calculation results attained strength of induction-heated region was lower-than-expected, mainly
from the equations mentioned above. Because the preliminary experi- because of the limited carbon content of steel material SS400 and the
mental tests were conducted cyclically, and there were several un- difficulty in quenching a large-scale open section steel component ra-
expected factors needed to be improved, including the initial pidly. From the Vickers harness tests results described in Fig. 21, it

9
Y. Liu, et al. Engineering Structures 210 (2020) 110341

CBB IHB-L60 IHB-W40

Fig. 15. Local buckling at the middle at final conditions.

Fig. 16. The locations of strain gauges.

4 4

2
Average strain (%)

0 0

-2 -2

CBB IHB-L60
-4 -4
420.5 770.5 1120.5 1470.5 1820.5 420.5 770.5 1120.5 1470.5 1820.5
Strain gauge location (mm) Strain gauge location (mm)
4

0.45% strain outer side

Average strain (%)

2
0.45% strain inner side

0.90% strain outer side

0
0.90% strain inner side

-2 2.40% strain outer side

2.40% strain inner side

IHB-W40
-4
420.5 770.5 1120.5 1470.5 1820.5
Strain gauge location (mm)
Fig. 17. Strains at the axial direction at the peak axial strain.

10
Y. Liu, et al. Engineering Structures 210 (2020) 110341

Fig. 18. Strain distribution under tension.

induction-heated regions), which could be considered as one of the

reasons for the lower buckling loads of IHB-L60 and IHB-W40. Given
the above limitations, the proper selection of the specimen material, for
example, the material with higher carbon content, and the appropriate
application of induction heating technology are of great importance.
Temporary stiffeners can be used during the heating to keep the I-
shaped section of the specimen, and a symmetrical design of induction-
heated region will be necessary to decrease the imperfection. Further
Fig. 19. Idealization of post-buckling deformation.
studies on the proper application of induction heating technology to the
open-section steel components will be carried on.
could be inferred that the induction heating effect was unstable.
As presented in Fig. 22, the slight deformations of the cross section
after induction heating were observed (the red regions are the designed

2 2
CBB IHB-L60 Eq.(2)
Eq.(1) a=60%
Load ratio

1 1

Eq.(5) Eq.(5)
x=50% x=20%
0 0

Eq.(4) Eq.(4)
ao=0.1%l ao=0.1%l
-1 -1
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
Axial strain (%) Axial strain (%)

2
IHB-W40 Eq.(1)
Eq.(3)
b=40%
1
Load ratio

Eq.(5) Analysis
x=50%
0 Calculation

Eq.(4)
ao=0.1%l
-1
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
Axial strain (%)
Fig. 20. Comparisons between the analysis and calculation results.

11
Y. Liu, et al. Engineering Structures 210 (2020) 110341

At the end of IHB-L60

350
Upper flange
300
250
200
350
Bottom flange
300
250
200
150
Vickers hardness (HV5)

350 Upper flange

100
300
50
250
200 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
150

350 Bottom flange 350 Web

300 300
250 250
200 200
150 150
100 100
50 50
0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Distance from the surface (mm)

At the middle of IHB-W40

350
Upper flange
300
250
200
Vickers hardness (HV5)

150
100

350
Bottom flange
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Distance from the surface (mm)
Fig. 21. Vickers hardness of the specimens.

(a) Cross section at the middle of IHB-L60 (b) Cross section at the middle of IHB-W40
Fig. 22. Deformed cross section of the specimens.

12
Y. Liu, et al.
7. Conclusions
This research first proposed an innovative type of I-shaped section
steel brace that was partially strengthened by induction heating pro-
cess, then presented the design concept, analyzed the effect of induc-
tion-heated length, width, location and strength, and conducted the
preliminary experimental tests on CBB (conventional buckling brace),
IHB-L60 (the middle part of the flange was induction-heated for 60% to
the test length in the axial direction) and IHB-W40 (one side of the
flange was induction-heated for 40% to the flange width in the axial
direction).
The analysis results showed that IHBs with higher-strength at the
middle or at one side of the flange were able to show better tensile
performances, of which the post-yielding stiffnesses could be raised to
1.61–2.31 times or 15.57–34.98 times of CBB, respectively, while the
strength of induction-heated region was twice of the normal-strength
region. The relocation of the hinge region due to the partial strength-
ening helped decelerating the loss of compressive capacity after buck-
ling.
The coupon test results showed that the yield strength and the
tensile strength of induction-heated specimen were raised up to 1.23
and 1.40 times of normal-strength specimen, respectively, which was
lower-than-expected mainly due to the limited carbon content of the
material.
The experimental tests showed that IHB-L60 and IHB-W40 suc-
ceeded to exert better tensile performances as analyzed, of which the
maximum tensile loads were 1.22 and 1.29 times of CBB, respectively.
Although the overall buckling behaviors of IHB series were not im-
proved as planned, which was contributed to the initial imperfections
brought by induction heating process as well as the unideal induction
heating effect, the occurrences of the local buckling at the middle were
limited, showing that IHB series succeeded in strain dispersion. Further
study on the partially strengthened braces will be conducted.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influ-
ence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Neturen Co., Ltd. for the technical and
financial support to this research [27].
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