RANDOM COMPRESSION CAPACITY OF CORRODED WHSJS

The welded hollow spherical joint (WHSJ) has been widely utilized in reticulated shell structures for 55 years since it was put forward in 1966. The corrosion of WHSJs can always be observed in actual conditions due to the invasion of surrounding environment and the unqualified maintenance. We investigate the axial compression capacity of randomly corroded WHSJs. Numerous numerical analysis was performed based on the stochastic finite element analysis. The influence of the probabilistic distribution model of corroded thickness on the reduction factor of the compression capacity of WHSJs was investigated. Analytical formula for predicting the reduction factor were proposed by curve fitting. The influence of the probabilistic distribution model of the corroded thickness on the changing rule of the reduction factor was revealed based on the numerous results derived from the stochastic numerical analysis. The fitting formula which can be used to predict the probabilistic distribution model of the reduction factor was proposed. The applicability of the conclusions on WHSJs with different geometrical sizes was validated through the results derived from WHSJs with different geometrical parameters. The results indicate that the proposed method can accurately determine the probabilistic distribution model of the reduction factor and the conclusions provide an analytical foundation for estimating the compression capacity of randomly corroded WHSJs.