Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 479-487 (2022)
A SIMPLE METHOD FOR A RELIABLE MODELLING OF THE NONLINEAR
BEHAVIOUR OF BOLTED CONNECTIONS IN STEEL LATTICE TOWERS
Farshad Pourshargh 1, Frederic P. Legeron 1, 2, Sébastien Langlois 1, * and Kahina Sad Saoud 1
1 Université de Sherbrooke, Department of Civil and Building Engineering,
2500 boul. de l’Université, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2A1, Canada
2 PMC – Bridge & Tunnel UAE District Manager, Parsons, Abu Dhabi PO5498, UAE
*(Corresponding author: E-mail:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Received: 11 December 2020; Revised: 26 May 2021; Accepted: 27 May 2021
DOI:10.18057/IJASC.2022.18.1.6
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ABSTRACT
The behaviour of bolted connections in steel lattice transmission line towers affects their load-bearing capacity and failure mode. Bolted connections are commonly modelled as pinned or fixed joints, but their behaviour lies between these two extremes and evolves in a nonlinear manner. Accordingly, an accurate finite element modelling of the structural response of complete steel lattice towers requires the consideration of various nonlinear phenomena involved in bolted connexions, such as bolt slippage. In this study, a practical method is proposed for the modelling of the nonlinear response of steel lattice tower connections involving one or multiple bolts. First, the local load-deformation behaviour of single-bolt lap connections is evaluated analytically depending on various geometric and material parameters and construction details. Then, the predicted nonlinear behaviour for a given configuration serves as an input to a 2D/3D numerical model of the entire assembly of plates in which the bolted joints are represented as discrete elements. For comparison purposes, an extensive experimental study comprising forty-four tests were conducted on steel plates assembled with one or two bolts. This approach is also extended to simulate the behaviour of assemblies including four bolts and the obtained results are checked against experimental datasets from the literature. The obtained results show that the proposed method can predict accurately the response of a variety of multi-bolt connections. A potential application of the strategy developed in this paper could be in the numerical modelling of full-scale steel lattice towers, particularly for a reliable estimation of the displacements.
KEYWORDS
Steel lattice tower, Nonlinear behaviour, Bolted connection, Failure modes, Bolt slippage, Finite element modelling
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