Experimental study on square hollow stainless steel tube trusses with three joint types and different brace widths under vertical loads

Abstract

This article reports the experimental behavior of square hollow stainless steel tubular trusses under static loading. A total of five specimens, including three trusses with K-joint, one truss with N-joint, and one truss with T-joint, were tested to study the effect of different outer widths of brace members and the types of joint on the flexural performance of square hollow stainless steel tubular trusses. The failure modes, flexural rigidity, load carrying capacity, ductility, load versus displacement curves, and load versus strain curves of all the tested specimens are presented. It can be seen that the chords of all specimens experienced surface plasticity. The test results indicate that the specimen with T-joint has the best ductility. The flexural rigidity of the truss with the K-joint is better than that of specimens with N-joint or T-joint. The flexural rigidity of trusses with the K-joint was found to increase with the increase of outer width (D) of the brace members varying from 38 to 80 mm. Besides, the load-carrying capacity per unit weight of the specimen with T-joint is better than that of specimens with N-joint or K-joint.