STRESS-CONCENTRATION FACTORS FOR TUBULAR Y-JOINTS AND T-JOINTS

A systematic study of stresses in tubular Y- and T-joints has been conducted in which nearly 900 thin-shell finite-element analyses were performed. These cover a wide range of joint geometries under axial loading, in-plane bending and out-of-plane bending. For each mode of loading, and for both the chord and brace sides of the intersection, semi-empirical equations are derived which relate the stress concentration factors at selected locations to a parametric function of the joint geometry. Equations are also obtained for the angular location of the hot-spot stress site around the intersection. The accuracy of these parametric equations is then assessed by comparing the predicted values with results from steel model tests and also with the predictions of other previously published equations. © 1990.