Thin–Walled Structures 113 (2017) 39–46

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Thin–Walled Structures
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Full length article

Capacity of steel CHS T-Joints strengthened with external stiffeners under MARK
axial compression
⁎
Lei Zhua, , Qiming Songa, Yu Baib, Yue Weia, Limeng Maa
a
School of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Beijing Higher Institution Engineering Research Center of Structural Engineering and New Materials, Beijing University of
Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing, China
b
Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Clayton VIC 3800, Australia

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The capacity of steel circular hollow section (CHS) T-joints reinforced with external stiffeners under axial
CHS T-joint compression is studied by finite element (FE) modeling and theoretical analysis in this paper. The FE modeling
Axial compression approach is first validated by results from axial compressive experiments on nine T-joints with and without
External stiffener stiffeners. Then 256 T-joint FE models are established and analyzed to investigate the influence of the size of
Finite element method
external stiffeners and joint geometry on the improvement of ultimate capacity of the joints under axial
Parametric analysis
compression. The results from parametric analysis show that the increment in ultimate capacity decreased when
Yield line model
the diameter ratio between the brace and the chord β increased, whereas it remained almost proportional to the
factor of stiffener length to the brace diameter η. In addition, for such T-joints, when the thickness of external
stiffener was no less than that of the chord wall, the effect of the factor of stiffener thickness to the chord
thickness λ and the diameter to thickness ratio of the chord 2γ on the improvement of ultimate capacity was not
obvious. On the basis of the yield line model, a theoretical formula is further derived to predict the ultimate
strength enhancement of reinforced T-joints with external stiffeners.

1. Introduction Several joint reinforcement methods have been proposed to improve

Tubular systems are among the most common forms utilized in steel
structures because of their excellent mechanical properties and aes-
thetic nature. Steel tubular members (chord and brace) are usually
regarded as being in an axially loading condition and their buckling is
crucial to structural safety when they are loaded in compression [1–4].
In contrast to tubular members, tubular joints are usually subjected to
complex loadings and can become the weak points of the whole tubular
structure. Early research was conducted from the 1950 s by experi-
mental studies on steel tubular joints [5]. Along with many further
systematic experimental studies and theoretical analyses, formulae for
calculation of bearing capacity have been proposed for simple planar
joints, such as T, K, Y, and X- joints, such as the formulae included in
the Design Criteria of Offshore Platform Structure (API RP2A) [6] and
CIDECT [7]. In China, the Chinese Code for Design of Steel Structures
(GB50017-2003) [8] also specifies strength calculation formulae for
simple planar joints, such as T, Y, K, and X-joints and multi-planar
tubular joints. In that code, the formulae have been verified by large
full-scale joint experiments and FE results, and have also been applied
in many practical engineering projects [8].
joint bearing capacity, with relevant experimental and numerical
investigations. These methods include the use of FRP, doubler- or
collar-plates, joint cans, internal stiffening rings, and filled concrete.
Lesani et al. [9,10] used experimental and finite element analysis to
study CHS T-joints reinforced with FRP under brace axial compression.
Cai et al. [11], Choo et al. [12], Sui et al. [13], and Vegte et al. [14]
adopted doubler and collar plates to strengthen CHS T-joints and their
research indicated that this method efficiently reinforced and signifi-
cantly increased the strength of T-joints. Nassiraei et al. [15,16] further
conducted numerical parametric analysis of CHS T/Y-joints reinforced
with collar plates under brace compressive or tensile loading, carried
out nonlinear regressive analysis, and proposed formulae to calculate
the enhancement effects. Shao et al. [17] investigated the use of a joint
can to improve the performance of CHS T-joints, and both American
Petroleum Institute (API) and American Welding Society (AWS) have
recommended this alternative method. Li et al. [18] used ANSYS to
analyze how internal longitudinal stiffeners strengthened the axial
strength of CHS T-joints. Thandavamoorthy et al. [19] and Lee et al.
[20] used experimental method and FE method respectively to analyze
the axial loading capacity of internal-ring-stiffened joints. Alternatively,

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: zhulei@bucea.edu.cn (L. Zhu).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tws.2017.01.007
Received 10 June 2016; Received in revised form 16 December 2016; Accepted 5 January 2017
Available online 17 January 2017
0263-8231/ © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
L. Zhu et al. Thin–Walled Structures 113 (2017) 39–46

Nomenclature E0 Young's modulus of chord

E1 Young's modulus of brace
d1 brace diameter E2 Young's modulus of stiffener
d0 chord diameter fy0 yield stress of chord
l0 chord length fy1 yield stress of brace
l1 brace length fy2 yield stress of stiffener
t0 chord wall thickness Fu,test ultimate strength from test
t1 brace wall thickness Fu,num ultimate strength from numerical analysis
ls stiffener length Nu,s ultimate strength of reinforced joint
hs stiffener height Nu ultimate strength of unreinforced joint
ts stiffener thickness η stiffener length factor ls/d1
α chord length parameter 2l0/d0 λ stiffener thickness factor ts/t0
β diameter ratio between brace and the chord d1/d0 Ψ joint ultimate strength enhancement coefficient Ψ=Nu,s/
γ half-diameter to thickness ratio of the chord d0/(2t0) Nu
τ brace wall-to-chord wall thickness ratio t1/t0

the chord can be filled with concrete to increase the joint loading
capacity. Wardenier et al. [7] presented some specifications for grouted
joints, stating that the brace capacity may be dominant in the case of
brace compression. Chen et al. [21] performed 16 tests of bare and
concrete-filled CHS T-joints with curved chords and straight chords.
Their results showed that joint strength was significantly enhanced by
the filled concrete.
The above methods may effectively enhance the joint loading
capacity. However, wrapping FRP is not time- or labor-efficient.
Doubler plates, joint cans, internal stiffening rings, and filled concrete
cannot be applied to completed joints, and using collar plates entails
much welding labor. Therefore, Zhao et al. [22] and Zhu et al. [23,24]
adopted external stiffeners and stiffening rings to reinforce CHS T-joints
and completed an experimental program and numerical simulation.
Unlike the above joint strengthening methods, reinforcement of CHS T-
joints with external stiffeners has obvious advantages because it is
convenient to apply to a tubular structure either during or after
construction. This method may be more cost-effective due to the
reduced requirement for material and labor.
Very limited ranges of parameters were investigated in Ref. [23],
including only three β, three stiffener length (ls) values and three
stiffener height (hs). Moreover, a mechanism based formula for the
prediction of the joint strength enhancement could not be developed or
validated due to inadequate results. To fully understand the influence of
external stiffener size and joint geometry on the ultimate strength
enhancement of joints under axial compression, this paper further
investigates the static strength of CHS T-joints reinforced with external
stiffeners, considering a wide range of design parameters by validated
FE analysis. 256 unreinforced and reinforced FE models which include
four β values, four γ values, three stiffener length (ls) values and five
stiffener width (ts) values are established in this paper and examined
accordingly. A theoretical formula is proposed based on the yield line
model and nonlinear regressive analysis to calculate the reinforcement
effect, and the results compare well with those from FE analysis and
previous experiments.
the experiment. Generally, the residual stresses may affect the buckling
strength of tubular members and the fatigue behavior of tubular joints
[25–27]. But the influence of the residual stresses on the static strength
of tubular joints may be minor because the joint failure is often due to
the chord plasticization. The numerical simulation also indicates that
the influence of the residual stresses is insignificant since the FE models
did not include the residual stresses while agreed well with the
experimental results.
3. FE analysis
3.1. Basic assumptions
The finite element analysis in the present study adopts the following
assumptions:
(1) The material model is the ideally elastic plastic model with the
Poisson's ratio of 0.3.
(2) All materials are isotropic hardening and follow the Von Mises
yield criterion.
(3) The influence of the welds on the load-carrying capacity of a joint is
ignored.
(4) The influence of the welding residual stress is ignored.
3.2. FE modeling
The finite element software ABAQUS/CAE (Version 6.10) was used
for simulation. The 20-noded quadratic solid element with reduced
integration (C3D20R) was used to establish the FE models. To reduce
computational time, quarter models were adopted in the numerical
parametric investigation because the model and the loading were
symmetric; therefore, the numerical results could be extended to the
full specimens. The mesh density was nearly uniform over the whole
joint. A typical mesh model is shown in Fig. 3.
To simulate the contact relationship between the chord, brace, and

2. Brief summary of previous experiments

Three groups of unreinforced and reinforced CHS T-joints with

external stiffeners were experimentally examined by Zhao et al. [22] brace
and Zhu et al. [23,24]. This resulted in nine specimens (Fig. 1), with the
geometric parameters and material properties given in Tables 1 and 2,
for the subsequent FE-based parametric analysis.
The specimens were supported at the two chord endplates by two
steel bases and the brace compressive load was applied through a
chord
transducer by a jack (Fig. 2). During the entire loading stage, the
displacements at the brace end and the chord center were recorded.
The residual stresses caused by the welding were not measured in Fig. 1. Detail of T-joint reinforced with external stiffeners [22,23].

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L. Zhu et al. Thin–Walled Structures 113 (2017) 39–46

Table 1
Geometric parameters of specimens tested [22–24].

Joint Type l0 (mm) d0 (mm) d1 (mm) t0 (mm) t1 (mm) l1 (mm) ls (mm) hs (mm) ts (mm)

T1 unreinforced 1800.0 298.0 76.3 5.6 6.2 375.0 – – –

T2 reinforced 1800.0 298.2 76.3 5.6 6.2 375.0 71.5 71.5 5.3
T3 unreinforced 1800.0 298.1 147.2 5.8 6.4 745.0 – – –
T4 reinforced 1800.0 298.3 147.1 5.6 6.6 750.0 144.8 144.8 5.5
T5 unreinforced 1800.0 297.9 220.2 6.1 6.5 1126.5 – – –
T6 reinforced 1800.0 297.9 220.2 5.9 6.4 1130.0 219.0 219.0 5.3
T7 unreinforced 1800.0 298.9 77.5 8.0 6.5 367.8 – – –
T8 unreinforced 1800.0 298.8 152.3 7.9 10.5 748.5 – – –
T9 unreinforced 1800.0 298.4 220.3 7.8 8.3 1121.5 – – –

Table 2 constrained the translational displacements but permitted rotation.

Material properties of specimens tested [22–24]. Given structural symmetry, a quarter model was analyzed. Therefore,
the symmetrical boundary conditions were applied at the two boundary
E0 (GPa) E1 (GPa) E2 (GPa) fy0 (MPa) fy1 (MPa) fy2 (MPa)
sections, as shown in Fig. 3(a).
T1 227 224 – 345 470 – Both material and geometric nonlinearities were taken into account
T2 227 224 229 345 470 322 because of their significant effects on the ultimate strength of the
T3 227 224 – 345 368 – tubular joints. The Newton-Raphson iteration method was applied in
T4 227 224 229 345 368 322
T5 227 183 – 345 352 –
ABAQUS to solve the nonlinear problem.
T6 227 183 229 345 352 322
T7 218 184 – 325 307 –
4. Verification of modeling results
T8 218 204 – 325 395 –
T9 218 – – 325 343 –
Fig. 4 shows comparisons of load-displacement curves from the FE
modeling and the experimental results. In these curves the horizontal
jack axis shows the joint displacement, representing the ovalization of the
joint. The difference in displacement between the brace end and the
LVDT chord at the center of the bottom was adopted to define the ovalization
of the joint.
brace The load-displacement curves of T-joints under axial compression
increased almost linearly at first, then reached a peak and decreased. As
a result all the curves in Fig. 4 show clear peak load points. In some
circumstances, however, the joint deformation may be too great and the
joint strength is governed by deformation. In this study, the ultimate
chord joint capacity was determined in accordance with the method of Choo
et al. [12] and Vegte et al. [14], which specified a 6%d0 deformation
LVDT support
support limit. Since all the joint deformations at the peak point were less than
Fig. 2. Experiment setup. 6%d0, where d0 was the chord diameter, the peak points were regarded
as the ultimate strengths for these joints.
For joint T1, it can be seen that the FE results agree well with the
experimental results and the two curves coincide. For joint T2, the
numerical and experimental curves match closely during the initial
stage but the numerical peak load is slightly higher than the experi-
mental load. More information can be found in Zhu et al. [23,24].
Table 3 lists a summary of the experimental and numerical peak
loads (joint ultimate strengths). All the numerical results agree well
with the experimental results and the errors are less than 10%,
indicating that the numerical model can predict well the ultimate
strength of joints reinforced by external stiffener and unreinforced
joints. Fig. 5 compares the deformed shapes of joints T1 and T2 between
experimental and numerical results, which are also very similar. These
results suggested that ABAQUS FE modeling was suitable for the
simulation analysis of CHS T-joints, with satisfying accuracy.
Fig. 3. Finite element model a) Overall model, b) Detail of model.

external stiffeners, the ABAQUS contact ability (merge) was used to
simulate the interaction between them. In this way, the nodes of
members were coupled at their intersections.
A reference node above the center of the brace end was created to
apply brace compressive loading. Then, the coupling constraint
between the reference point and the brace end was established. The
load was applied to the reference node. In the modeling, another
reference node was also provided to couple the center of each chord
end, to simulate a simply-supported boundary, a provision that
5. Parametric investigation
5.1. Numerical scenarios
After the validation in Section 4, a series of numerical analyses was
conducted to investigate the influence of external stiffener size and joint
geometry on the ultimate strength enhancement of CHS T-joints under
brace axial compression. In view of the fact that many codes have
stipulated strength calculation formulas for T-joints, in this study the
orthogonal design method was used to analyze the effect of the

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L. Zhu et al. Thin–Walled Structures 113 (2017) 39–46

Fig. 4. Numerical and experimental load-displacement curves.

Table 3 this relationship is Ψ independent of λ. The five curves all indicate that
Comparison between numerical and experimental results. Ψ decreases with the increase in β. The value of Ψ when β=0.2 is
higher than the values when β=0.4, 0.6, or 0.8.
Fu,test (kN) Fu,num (kN) Fu,num/Fu,test
Fig. 6(b) shows the effect of β on Ψ when η is 1, 2, or 3. Similarly,
T1 85.0 88.6 1.04 these three curves indicate that Ψ decreases almost linearly with the
T2 100.2 103.0 1.03 increase in β. But the slopes of the three curves are different, indicating
T3 155.0 158.1 1.02 that the change of Ψ with β is also related to η. Furthermore, it can be
T4 160.8 164.2 1.02
T5 249.7 264.7 1.06
concluded that for T-joints with higher β values, the enhancing effect of
T6 236.0 257.4 1.09 external stiffeners is no longer obvious.
T7 178.3 179.1 1.00
T8 275.8 281.2 1.02
5.2.2. Effect of half-diameter to thickness ratio of the chord γ on the
T9 402.3 399.9 0.99
ultimate strength enhancement coefficient Ψ
In this section we investigated the effect of γ on Ψ. Fig. 7(a) shows
diameter ratio between the brace and the chord β, the half-diameter to the effect of γ on Ψ when η is 1, 2, or 3. The three curves show that Ψ
thickness ratio of the chord γ, the stiffener length factor η (i.e. ls/d1 decreases slightly with an increase in γ, but the decrement is very small.
where ls is the stiffener length and d1 is the brace diameter) and the When γ has a consistent value, Ψ in different η curves declines, perhaps
thickness factor λ (i.e. ts/t0 where ts is the stiffener thickness and t0 is due to the change in η. Fig. 7(b) shows the effect of γ on Ψ when λ is
the chord wall thickness) on the joint ultimate strength enhancement 1.0, 1.2, 1.4, 1.6, or 1.8. Similarly, the five curves do not decrease
coefficient Ψ (i.e. Nu,s/Nu where Nu,s is the ultimate strength of the significantly, but almost overlap. Through analysis of the above two
reinforced joint and Nu is the ultimate strength of the unreinforced figures, the conclusion can be drawn that the effect of γ on Ψ is not
joint) of the joint ultimate bearing capacity. The chord, the brace, and significant and can almost be ignored.
the stiffener had the same material properties. The Young's modulus
was 206 GPa and the Poisson's ratio was 0.3, according to the Chinese 5.2.3. Effect of the stiffener length factor η on the ultimate strength
code [8]. The design parameters for this study with their values are enhancement coefficient Ψ
shown in Table 4, resulting in 240 (i.e. 4×4×3×5) FE models. The In this section we investigated the effect of the stiffener length factor
corresponding 16 (i.e. 4×4) unreinforced joints with four different β η on Ψ. Fig. 8 shows the relationship between η and Ψ for different
and four different γ values (Table 4) were modeled as reference values of λ and γ. The four curves in Fig. 8(a) and the five curves in
specimens to calculate the ultimate strength enhancement coefficient Fig. 8(b) all show that Ψ increases linearly with the increase in η,
(Ψ). In order to achieve rapid modeling, this paper utilized the Python indicating that increasing the stiffener length can effectively improve
script to complete joint modeling and pre-processing work through the the joint's bearing capacity. The four curves in Fig. 8(a) and the five
redevelopment interface provided by ABAQUS, saving considerable curves in Fig. 8(b) are linear and similar, also indicating that γ and λ
time and labor. In addition, parameters such as the chord diameter, have insignificant effects on Ψ. Therefore it may be speculated that Ψ
chord length, and material properties of steel were all specified and η are linearly correlated.
consistently in the different joint models.
5.2.4. Effect of the stiffener thickness factor λ on the ultimate strength
5.2. Results and comparison enhancement coefficient Ψ
In this section we investigated the effect of the stiffener thickness
5.2.1. Effect of diameter ratio between the brace and the chord β on the factor λ on Ψ, as summarized in Fig. 9. It can be found from Fig. 9(a)
ultimate strength enhancement coefficient Ψ that Ψ barely increases with the increase of λ with different values of β,
It is apparent that reinforced T-joints are stronger than correspond- and all the curves are close to the horizontal line in Fig. 9(a). Similar
ing unreinforced T-joints, and as a result the values of Ψ are greater results for the effects of λ on Ψ are also obtained for difference values of
than 1. In this section we investigated the effect of β on the ultimate γ, as shown in Fig. 9(b). Therefore, it is concluded that the stiffener
strength enhancement coefficient Ψ. The increase of β in the models thickness factor λ has no obvious effect on Ψ. For T-joints, under the
resulted in an increase of the brace diameter because the chord premise that the external stiffener thickness is no less than the chord
diameter was constant. Fig. 6(a) shows the relationship between β thickness, the effect of enhancing external stiffener thickness is
and Ψ when λ is 1.0, 1.2, 1.4, 1.6, and 1.8 respectively; it appears that negligible.

42
L. Zhu et al. Thin–Walled Structures 113 (2017) 39–46

Fig. 5. Comparison between numerical and experimental deformed shapes of joints T1 and T2. a) Comparison between numerical and experimental deformed shapes of joint T1. b)
Comparison between numerical and experimental deformed shapes of joint T2.

Table 4
Specified values of parameters.

l0 (mm) d0 (mm) fy (MPa) β γ η λ

1800 300 345 0.2,0.4,0.6,0.8 10,15,20,25 1,2,3 1.0,1.2,1.4,1.6,1.8

5.3. Formulation for Static Strengths of Reinforced T-Joints
Commonly the ring model [28] and the yield line model [29] are
adopted to derive a theoretical formula to calculate the ultimate
loading capacity of tubular joints. For a reinforced tubular joint,
however, these two models cannot be applied directly because the
yield zone becomes more complex than an unreinforced joint. Here, we
propose a modified yield line model considering the contribution of
stiffeners for estimating the loading capacity of CHS-reinforced T-joints.
As shown in Fig. 10, in the ultimate state, the intersection lines
between the brace and the chord yield and the intersection lines
between the stiffener and the chord may yield. The strength enhance-

43
L. Zhu et al.
Fig. 6. Effect of β on Ψ for a) with different values of λ and for b) with different values of η.
ment of the reinforced joint therefore comes from the increase in length
of the yield line in comparison to the unreinforced joint. The intersec-
tion line between the brace and the chord is a complex spatial curve and
its length cannot be calculated from an elementary function. An
approximate method is used to solve the problem. The radius along
the chord axial direction of the intersection line is d1/2, and the radius
along the chord circumferential direction is d1/2arcsin(β). Then the
average radius R of the intersection line can be expressed as
R=[d1/2 + d 0 /2arcsin (β )]/2
Therefore the perimeter P of the intersection line is
P=π [d1/2 + d 0 /2arcsin (β )]
Then, the joint's ultimate strength enhancement coefficient Ψ is
determined as:
Ψ =1 + 2ls /{π [d1/2 + d 0 /2arcsin (β )]}
According to Taylor's expansion,
arcsin(β )≈β +β 3 /6
then
4 ⎛ 1 ⎞
Ψ =1 + η / ⎜2 + β 2 ⎟
π ⎝ 6 ⎠
This equation indicates that the joint strength enhancement was
related only to η and β. η was in a positive relation and β was in a
negative relation and this was consistent with the parametric analysis
above.
However, relatively large overestimations were obtained from Eq.
(5) in comparison to the experimental and numerical results. This may
be because the stiffeners did not fully contribute to the strength
enhancement and thus the yield lines of the stiffeners should be
Fig. 7. Effect of γ on Ψ.
Thin–Walled Structures 113 (2017) 39–46
reduced. As in the method used by Nassiraei et al. [15,16], a factor k
and two exponentials n and m were introduced into Eq. (5) for η and β
respectively.
⎛ 1 ⎞
Ψ =1 + kη n / ⎜2 + β m⎟
⎝ 6 ⎠ (6)
where k, n, and m can be determined using a regression method in
Origin 8.0 based on the results from experiments and previous
(1) parametric analysis. This gave 0.37 for k, 1.30 for n and 1.18 for m
for the values of β from 0.2 to 0.8, η from 0 to 3, γ from 10 to 25, and λ
from 1 to 1.8. The calculated results for Ψ using Eq. (6) agreed well
(2) with the numerical results, with the average ratio of 1.01 and standard
variation of 0.0687.
6. Conclusions
(3)
Based on a validated FE modeling approach, many numerical
analyses were performed on CHS T-joints with external stiffener
(4) reinforcement, covering a large range of design parameters. Thereby
the influence of the external stiffener size and joint geometry on the
ultimate strength enhancement under axial compression could be
clarified. Furthermore, a formulation was developed for predicting
(5) the static strength of a T-joint reinforced with external stiffeners. The
main conclusions are summarized as follows:
(1) Based on the experimental data of nine CHS T-joints (reinforced
and unreinforced), the results of FE analysis of the behavior of T-
joints under axially compressive load showed good agreement with
the experimental results for ultimate strength, deformation, and
failure modes. The yield zones calculated by the FE analysis were
similar to those from the experiments. This suggests that the FE
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L. Zhu et al. Thin–Walled Structures 113 (2017) 39–46

Fig. 8. Effect of η on Ψ.

modeling method is suitable for describing the mechanical perfor-

mance of CHS T-joints with high accuracy. Furthermore, a method
of utilizing Python script was developed to complete joint modeling
Brace
and pre-processing work through the redevelopment interface Stiiffener
provided by ABAQUS, thereby saving considerable time and labor.
(2) The results from parametric analysis showed that the diameter
ner
Stiffen
ratio between the brace and the chord β and the ultimate strength
enhancement coefficient Ψ were in negatively correlated. The
stiffener length factor η and the ultimate strength enhancement
coefficient Ψ were in positive proportion. In T-joints, under the Yield line
premise that the thickness of external stiffeners is not less than the Yield linee
chord thickness, no obvious effect was found of the stiffener Chord
thickness factor λ and the half-diameter to thickness ratio of the
chord γ on the ultimate strength enhancement coefficient Ψ.
(3) A theoretical formulation was developed for predicting the static
strength of a T-joint reinforced with external stiffeners, considering
the contributions from the yield lines formed at the intersections
between stiffeners, brace, and chord. It was found that the strength
enhancement coefficient Ψ was only correlated to the stiffener
length factor η and the diameter ratio between the brace and the
chord β. This finding was consistent with the numerical results
from the parametric study. Factors and exponentials associated
with η and β in the formulation were further calibrated based on
the FE results of 256 unreinforced and reinforced T-joint models.
The resulting calculated strength enhancement coefficient showed
satisfactory correlation with the experimental and numerical
results. This formula may provide a convenient approach for
determining the strength enhancement coefficient in engineering
practice.
Fig. 10. Yield line.

Fig. 9. Effect of λ on Ψ.

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L. Zhu et al.
Acknowledgement
Funding by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.
51478489), the Project of the Beijing Municipal Commission of
Education, and the Haiju Project of the Beijing Government is gratefully
acknowledged.
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