Fatigue Life Prediction for Flange Connecting Bolts of Wind Turbine Tower

Flange joint part is the weak link of wind turbine tower.In view of the special structure,complex stress and easy failure of the connecting bolt of the wind turbine tower flange,the relationship between the external load of the tower section and the internal stress of the bolt is established by the finite element method,and the time series internal stress of the bolt is calculated by the Schmidt-Neuper algorithm.The S-N curve which is suitable for the connecting bolt material of the tower flange is selected by the GL2010 specification.On the basis of Miner’s fatigue cumulative damage theory and rain flow counting method,the fatigue strength of the whole ring bolt is roughly calculated,and the most dangerous part is determined.The axial symmetry model of screw connection is used for accurately calculating the fatigue cumulative damage of the bolt at the dangerous part.The results show that the fatigue life of the bolts in the most dangerous position can meet the requirements,the engineering algorithm has advantages in determining the dangerous part of the whole ring bolt,and the finite element method has high accuracy in predicting the fatigue life of the bolts in the dangerous part.The proposed method is feasible and effective in predicting the fatigue life of the flange joint bolts of the tower.

Simulation of Steel Reinforcement on the Nonlinear Behaviour of Slender Glulam Beam Columns by Using the Newton-Raphson Method

The current theory in NF EN 1995-1-1/NA of Eurocode 5, which is based on maximum deflection, has been investigated on softwoods. Therefore, this theory is not adapted for slender glulam beam columns made of tropical hardwood species from the Congo Basin. This maximum deflection is caused by a set of loads applied to the structure. However, Eurocode 5 doesn’t provide how to predict this deflection in case of long-term load for such structures. This can be done by studying load-displacement (P-Δ) behaviour of these structures while taking into account second order effects. To reach this goal, a nonlinear analysis has been performed on a three-dimensional beam column embedded on both ends. Since conducting experimental investigations on large span structural products is time-consuming and expensive especially in developing countries, a numerical model has been implemented using the Newton-Raphson method to predict load-displacement (P-Δ) curve on a slender glulam beam column made of tropical hardwood species. On one hand, the beam has been analyzed without wood connection. On the other hand, the beam has been analyzed with a bolted wood connection and a slotted-in steel plate. The load cases considered include self-weight and a uniformly applied long-term load. Combinations of serviceability limit states (SLS) and ultimate limit states (ULS) have also been considered, among other factors. A finite-element software RFEM 5 has been used to implement the model. The results showed that the use of steel can reduce displacement by 20.96%. Additionally, compared to the maximum deflection provided by Eurocode 5 for softwoods, hardwoods can exhibit an increasing rate of 85.63%. By harnessing the plastic resistance of steel, the bending resistance of wood can be increased by 32.94%.

Mechanical Behavior of Light Trusses Made of Poplar Laminated Veneer Lumber and Connected with Bolts and Tooth Plates

Poplar Laminated Veneer Lumber(Poplar LVL)is a new type of engineering materials with high strength,good reliability and small variability.Poplar LVL is manufactured from the fast-growing poplar,which is widely used in packaging,furniture and others,however,is rarely adopted in construction.In order to explore the feasibility of poplar LVL trusses in construction of roof,four 4.5-m-span Fink-and-Howe trusses were designed and assembled,which were made of poplar LVL with bolted-and tooth-plated connections.Vertical static loading on the upper chord joints of a truss was imposed by self-balancing test device.The mechanical properties of trusses were examined.The ultimate load,deformation character and failure mode of each truss were measured,observed and analyzed.Furthermore,four types of analytical models with different joint connection assumptions were used to estimate the ultimate load and deflection.The results showed that the poplar LVL trusses were basically in elastic stage before the design load was reached,showing good working performance under the action of design load.The bearing capacity of the trusses of bolted connections was greater than that of the tooth-plated connections.As for the same joint connection type,the bearing capacity of Fink trusses exceeded that of Howe trusses.The poplar LVL light trusses of both types of connections showed good structural performance,which could be reasonably used for building roof systems.

Experimental and numerical investigation of a composite structure with frame and skin

A composite structure with frame and skin based on cabin structure in a large space telescope is studied in this paper.The frame is composed of longitudinal and transverse beams with hybrid bonded/bolted joints,and the skin is connected to the frame by bolts.Tensile tests are conducted on the structure by a set of test stand.It is observed that residual deformation occurs in the first test of the structure,which is attributed to the relative sliding between the skin and frame because of bolt-hole clearances.The high tightening torque and the increased number of the skin-frame bolts contribute to the high stiffness of the structure.A finite element model(FEM)of this composite structure is established,and the simulation model is verified by the experimental results.The FEM is contrastively analyzed with different frame joints,and it is found that adhesive joining in the hybrid bonded/bolted joints enhances the stiffness of the structure significantly.Given that adhesive plays a leading role in the stiffness of the hybrid joints,Tie contact in FEM is proposed to simulate bonded or hybrid joints when studying the stiffness performance of undamaged structure.

STRESS-STRAIN FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS AND FATIGUE LIFE PREDICTION FOR BOLTED CONNECTIONS

A cyclic plasticity model is used into finite element (FE) method to obtainthe details of elastic-plastic stress-strain in the bolts under cyclic axial loading. Two criteriain multiaxial fatigue are employed to predict fatigue lives of bolts. The predicted fatigue livesare in favorable agreement with the experimental results for machined bolts.

Seismic behavior and mechanism analysis of innovative precast shear wall involving vertical joints

To study the seismic performance and load-transferring mechanism of an innovative precast shear wall(IPSW) involving vertical joints, an experimental investigation and theoretical analysis were successively conducted on two test walls. The test results confirm the feasibility of the novel joints as well as the favorable seismic performance of the walls, even though certain optimization measures should be taken to improve the ductility. The load-transferring mechanism subsequently is theoretically investigated based on the experimental study. The theoretical results show the load-transferring route of the novel joints is concise and definite. During the elastic stage, the vertical shear stress in the connecting steel frame(CSF) distributes uniformly; and each high-strength bolt(HSB)primarily delivers vertical shear force. However, the stress in the CSF redistributes when the walls develop into the elastic-plastic stage. At the ultimate state, the vertical shear stress and horizontal normal stress in the CSF distribute linearly; and the HSBs at both ends of the CSF transfer the maximum shear forces.

Mechanical Experimental Study on Tensile Bolted Connections of Cross-laminated Timber

In order to explore a kind of high-strength,earthquake-resistant,eco-nomical and suitable connection,4 groups of cross-laminated timber wall-to-floor and wall-to-wall bolted connections were tested under monotonic and cyclic load-ing.The defommation characteristics and failure modes of the cross-laminated tim-ber wall-to-floor and wall-to-wall bolted connections were exploited.Load-slip curves,bearing capacity,yielding point,stiffness and ductility of each group of specimens were analyzed.The test results indicate that the loading process of cross-laminated timber bolted connections under tension can be categorized as five stages,namely the elastic stage,the slip stage,the embedding stage,the yield-ing stage and the ultimate stage.The ultimate tensile capacity of cross-laminated timber bolted wall-to-floor connections is 2.67 times that of the wall-to-wall bolted connections.Compared with cross-laminated timber self-tapping screwed connections,the ultimate tensile capacity of the cross-laminated timber wall-to-floor bolted connections is 2.70 times that of the self-tapping screwed connec-tions,and the ultimate tensile capacity of the cross-laminated timber wall-to-wall bolted connections is 3.83 times that of the self-tapping screwed connections.The crosslaminated timber bolted connections have larger yielding displacement and wider plastic range,and they are more energy dissipative and more ductile.Furthermore,the cost of the cross-laminated timber wall-to-floor bolted connec-tions is 46%that of the self-tapping screwed connections,while the cost of cross-laminated wall-to-wall bolted connections is 53%that of the self-screwed connections.

Research of Surface Coating Influence on Loose Life of Bolt

The rust⁃proof ability relate to the reliability of bolt connection,and the painting is the most simple and effective rust⁃proof method in industry.Because of lacking general standard,there are different coating thicknesses painted on the surface of workpieces,which influences the loose life of connecting bolt.For the longer loose life,Three kinds of applied coatings(primer coating,primer+top⁃coat coating,primer+intermediate⁃coat+top⁃coat coating)in industry are tested in the experiment,and the best coating is found.All the conclusions gotten by analyzing the testing phenomenon of every coating shown in experiment,have profound meaning for practical industry application.

Multi-scale strength analysis of bolted connections used in integral thermal protection system

Efficient and accurate strength analysis of bolted connections is essential in analyzing the integral thermal protection system（ITPS） of hypersonic vehicles, since the system bears severe loads and structural failures usually occur at the connections. Investigations of composite mechanical properties used in ITPS are still in progress as the architecture of the composites is complex. A new method is proposed in this paper for strength analysis of bolted connections by investigating the elastic behavior and failure strength of three-dimensional C/C orthogonal composites used in ITPS. In this method a multi-scale finite element method incorporating the global–local method is established to ensure high efficiency in macro-scale and precision in meso-scale in analysis.Simulation results reveal that predictions of material properties show reasonable accuracy compared with test results. And the multi-scale method can analyze the strength of connections efficiently and accurately.

Ultimate strength of single shear bolted connections with cold-formed ferritic stainless steel

This paper is focused on the structural behavior of the single shear bolted connections with thin-walled ferritic stainless steel.The purpose of this study is to investigate the ultimate behaviors,such as ultimate strength and fracture mode of the single shear bolted connections of thin-walled ferritic stainless steel(low cost steel) rather than austenitic stainless steel(high cost steel).Bolt arrangement and end distance parallel to the direction of applied load are considered as main variables of the test specimens for bolted connections.Specimens have a constant dimension of edge distance perpendicular to the loading direction,bolt diameter,pitch,and gauge.A monotonic tensile test for specimens has been carried out and some bolted connections with long end distance showed curling(out of plane deformation) occurrence which led to strength reduction.The ultimate behaviors such as fracture mode,ultimate strength are compared with those predicted by current design codes.Further,conditions of curling occurrence and the strength reduction due to curling are investigated and modified strength equations are suggested considering the curling effect.

Experimental and analytical studies on the deformability of a precast RC shear wall involving bolted connections

To study the deformability and ductility of an innovative precast shear wall joined by bolted connections,experimental tests were conducted on two test walls under monotonic and cyclic loading,respectively;subsequently,theoretical analysis was performed on the deformation performance of the shear wall assembly.The test results confirmed the favorable deformability and ductility of the specimens.The top displacement of the shear wall assembly was analytically decomposed into several constituent parts,the theoretical formulae of which were subsequently deduced.The compositional analysis demonstrated that the top displacement of the test wall was primarily induced by the elastic deformation of the upper wall panel(UWP),the relative slippages within the bolted connections,and the flexural deformation within the plastic region of the UWP,while the constituent part contributed by the deformation in the connecting steel frame can be neglected.

Behavior of axially loaded tubular X-joints using bolted connection:mechanical model and validation

X-joints are one of the fundamental joint configurations used in a wide range of transmission tubular structures.Experimental investigation of four tubular X-joints with bolted connection was conducted in this study,and it was found that the annular plate was the main yielding control member of such X-joints.Moreover,the portion outside the effective width of the chord member still had a restriction effect on the annular plate,which led to reducing the yielding strength of the joint,while the gusset plate could help to improve the yield strength capacity.In the current design code of steel structures,the contribution to the strength capacity of the gusset plate has not been taken into account.Therefore,based on some mechanical assumptions,a general mechanical model was proposed.After the introduction of the gusset plate strength capacity factor,the yield capacity simplified calculation method of such X-joints was derived.Through the analyses of such X-joints with various diameters and thicknesses,it was concluded that a simple mechanical model could predict test results very well and that the contribution of the gusset plate was also taken into account.

State-of-the-art on resistance of bearing-type bolted connections in high strength steel

With the recent development of material science,high strength steel(HSS)has become a practical solution for landmark buildings and major projects.The current codes for design of bearing-type bolted connections of steel constructions were established based on the research of conventional steels.Since the mechanical properties of HSS are different from those of conventional steels,more works should be done to develop the appropriate approach for the design of bearing-type bolted connections in HSS.A review of the research carried out on bearing-type bolted connections fabricated from conventional steel and HSS is presented.The up-to-date tests conducted at Tongji University on four connection types fabricated from three grades of HSS with nominal yield strengths of 550,690,and 890 MPa are presented.The previous research on failure modes,bearing resistance and the design with consideration of bolt hole elongation are summarized.It is found that the behavior of bolted connections in HSS have no drastic difference compared to that of conventional steel connections.Although the ductility is reduced,plastic deformation capacity of HSS is sufficient to ensure the load redistribution between different bolts with normal construction tolerances.It is also found that behavior of each bolt of multi-bolt connections arranged in perpendicular to load direction is almost identical to that of a single-bolt connection with the same end distance.For connections with bolts arranged in parallel to load direction,the deformation capacity of the whole connection depends on the minimum value between the end distance and the spacing distances in load direction.The comparison with existing design codes shows that Eurocode3 and Chinese GB50017-2017 are conservative for the design of bolted connections in HSS while AISC 360-16 may overestimate the bearing resistance of bolted connections.

Static and Fatigue Behavior of Hybrid Bonded/Bolted Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer Joints Under Tensile Loading

This paper presents the static and fatigue tests of hybrid(bonded/bolted)glass fiber reinforced polymer(GFRP)joints.Nine specimens of single-lap hybrid GFRP joints have been fabricated to study the static and fatigue behaviors in the experimental campaign.The static tests of uniaxial tension loading are first conducted,from which the static ultimate bearing capacities of the joints are obtained.High-cycle fatigue tests are subsequently carried out so that the fatigue failure mode,fatigue life,and stiffness degradation of joints can be obtained.The measuring techniques including acoustic emission monitoring and three-dimensional digital image correlation have been employed in the tests to record the damage development process.The results revealed that the static strength and fatigue behavior of such thick hybrid GFRP joints were controlled by the bolted connections.The four stages of fatigue failure process are obtained from tests and acoustic emission signals analysis:cumulative damage of adhesive layer,damage of the adhesive layer,cumulative damage of GFRP plate,and damage of GFRP plate.The fatigue life and stiffness degradation can be improved by more bolts.The S-N(fatigue stress versus life)curves for the fatigue design of the single-lap hybrid GFRP joints under uniaxial tension loading are also proposed.