NEW DATA ON THE ULTIMATE STRENGTH OF TUBULAR WELDED K JOINTS UNDER MOMENT LOADS

A joint industry testing programme on the static strength of welded tubular joints is now completed. Tests on large scale steel models were carried out for a number of joint types and load cases for which little or no data are available to support current design criteria. This paper presents the test results of 10 specimens of K configuration. 6 K joints were tested under in-plane moment loading; for 3 specimens both braces were loaded in the same direction and for the remaining 3 specimens the individual braces were loaded in opposite directions. The other 5 specimens were tested under out-of-plane loading with all braces loaded in the same direction. Other parameters embodied in the tests were ratio of brace to chord diameters and ratio of gap between braces to chord diameter. The in-plane moment loaded tests on 6 K joints undertaken showed that stress field interaction developed in the gap region between braces is generally detrimental. The use of existing formulae for T/Y joints would underestimate the strength of K joints under in-plane moment loads. The results of out-of-plane moment loaded K joints indicate that current design approaches will yield adequate solutions. Comments are given on the suitability of the existing recommendations as given in API RP2A Specification and UEG publication which forms the basis of the new draft guidance on static strength recently issued by the UK Department of Energy.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Proc. 20th Offshore Technology Conference, held Houston, Texas, 2-5 May 1988, Vol. 4, p. 215 [12 pp., 8 ref., 3 tab., 7 fig., 2 phot.]
• Authors:
  • Ma, S Y
  • Tebbett, I E
• Conference:
  • Proc. 20th Offshore Technology Conference
  • Location: Houston texas, United States
  • Date: 1988-5-2 to 1988-5-5
• Publication Date: 1988

Language

• English

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Weld strength
• Subject Areas: Marine Transportation; Materials;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00694904
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: British Maritime Technology
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 14 1995 12:00AM