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Keywords: testing equipment, steel structures, design, finite element analysis, stresses.

Summary

To test a large number of structural concrete hollow beams under torsion, an experimental equipment was developed to apply the torsion force to the test beams up to the failure. One of the parts of the equipment was a torsion apparatus. This apparatus was designed to withstand and transmit the loads to the test beams. It consisted on a shaft (a thick steel tube), an arm (a thick steel plate with stiffeners) connected to the shaft by means of screws, a head (a thick steel circular plate with studs) welded to the one of the shaft ends, and a reinforced concrete block fixed to the strong floor of the lab. The concrete block had four steel rings fixed to it. The steel shaft could rotate inside these rings and, therefore, transform the actuator linear load into a torsional load at one of the extremities of the test beams.

The aim of the investigation project was to study the torsional behaviour of 6.50m long reinforced and prestressed concrete hollow beams up to failure. They needed to be fixed at one end and the torsion would be applied to the other end. The torsion moment would be constant along the beam's length. The equipment behaved very satisfactory, despite the high levels of loads that were applied to the beams (HSC Beams). The reliable behaviour of the equipment let to interesting results of the investigation [1,2,3].

A finite element programme (LUSAS [4,5]) was used to model the steel arm using plane finite elements. One of the aims was to evaluate the stresses and deformations for the maximum load by means of a linear analysis. Other objective was to evaluate the critical load of the arm with stiffeners by means of a non linear analysis.

References

1: L.F.A. Bernardo, S.M.R. Lopes, "Plastic Analysis of HSC Beams in Flexure", Materials and Structures, RILEM, Springer, 42(1), 51-69, 2009. doi:10.1617/s11527-008-9366-x
2: S.M.R. Lopes, L.F.A. Bernardo, "Twist Behaviour of High-Strength Concrete Hollow Beams - Formation of Plastic Hinges along the Length", Engineering Structures, Elsevier, 31(1), 138-149, 2009. doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2008.08.003
3: L.F.A. Bernardo, S.M.R. Lopes, "Torsion in HSC Hollow Beams: Strength and Ductility Analysis", ACI Structural Journal, 106(1), 39-48, 2009.
4: FEA 1999a, "Lusas Finite Element System, Lusas - Element Library", London: FEA, Kingston-upon-Thames.
5: FEA 1999b, "Lusas Finite Element System, Lusas - Theory Manual", London: FEA, Kingston-upon-Thames.

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Front Page Browse CCP CSETS CTR IJRT Other Authors Search Purchase Guide FAQ Contact us	Civil-Comp Proceedings ISSN 1759-3433 CCP: 91 PROCEEDINGS OF THE TWELFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CIVIL, STRUCTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING COMPUTING Edited by: B.H.V. Topping, L.F. Costa Neves and R.C. Barros Paper 8 Design of a Steel Apparatus for Experimental Torsion Tests of Concrete Hollow Beams L.F.A. Bernardo¹, A.M. Jorge¹ and S.M.R. Lopes² ¹Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Beira Interior, Covilha, Portugal ²Department of Civil Engineering, University of Coimbra, Portugal doi:10.4203/ccp.91.8 purchase the full-text of this paper Full Bibliographic Reference for this paper L.F.A. Bernardo, A.M. Jorge, S.M.R. Lopes, "Design of a Steel Apparatus for Experimental Torsion Tests of Concrete Hollow Beams", in B.H.V. Topping, L.F. Costa Neves, R.C. Barros, (Editors), "Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference on Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering Computing", Civil-Comp Press, Stirlingshire, UK, Paper 8, 2009. doi:10.4203/ccp.91.8 Keywords: testing equipment, steel structures, design, finite element analysis, stresses. Summary To test a large number of structural concrete hollow beams under torsion, an experimental equipment was developed to apply the torsion force to the test beams up to the failure. One of the parts of the equipment was a torsion apparatus. This apparatus was designed to withstand and transmit the loads to the test beams. It consisted on a shaft (a thick steel tube), an arm (a thick steel plate with stiffeners) connected to the shaft by means of screws, a head (a thick steel circular plate with studs) welded to the one of the shaft ends, and a reinforced concrete block fixed to the strong floor of the lab. The concrete block had four steel rings fixed to it. The steel shaft could rotate inside these rings and, therefore, transform the actuator linear load into a torsional load at one of the extremities of the test beams. The aim of the investigation project was to study the torsional behaviour of 6.50m long reinforced and prestressed concrete hollow beams up to failure. They needed to be fixed at one end and the torsion would be applied to the other end. The torsion moment would be constant along the beam's length. The equipment behaved very satisfactory, despite the high levels of loads that were applied to the beams (HSC Beams). The reliable behaviour of the equipment let to interesting results of the investigation [1,2,3]. A finite element programme (LUSAS [4,5]) was used to model the steel arm using plane finite elements. One of the aims was to evaluate the stresses and deformations for the maximum load by means of a linear analysis. Other objective was to evaluate the critical load of the arm with stiffeners by means of a non linear analysis. References 1 L.F.A. Bernardo, S.M.R. Lopes, "Plastic Analysis of HSC Beams in Flexure", Materials and Structures, RILEM, Springer, 42(1), 51-69, 2009. doi:10.1617/s11527-008-9366-x 2 S.M.R. Lopes, L.F.A. Bernardo, "Twist Behaviour of High-Strength Concrete Hollow Beams - Formation of Plastic Hinges along the Length", Engineering Structures, Elsevier, 31(1), 138-149, 2009. doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2008.08.003 3 L.F.A. Bernardo, S.M.R. Lopes, "Torsion in HSC Hollow Beams: Strength and Ductility Analysis", ACI Structural Journal, 106(1), 39-48, 2009. 4 FEA 1999a, "Lusas Finite Element System, Lusas - Element Library", London: FEA, Kingston-upon-Thames. 5 FEA 1999b, "Lusas Finite Element System, Lusas - Theory Manual", London: FEA, Kingston-upon-Thames. purchase the full-text of this paper (price £20) go to the previous paper go to the next paper return to the table of contents return to the book description purchase this book (price £140 +P&P)
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