Elastic and inelastic stability of a steel arch subjected to a crown point load under an elevated fire environment. (May 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Li, Zhaochao; Guo, Zhen; Meng, Lijuan
• Is Part Of: Engineering failure analysis. Volume 123(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-05
• Subjects: Stability -- Thin-walled circular arch -- Elastic and inelastic -- Point load -- Fire -- Numerical Analysis -- Equilibrium curve; System failures (Engineering) -- Periodicals; Fracture mechanics -- Periodicals; Reliability (Engineering) -- Periodicals; Pannes -- Périodiques; Rupture, Mécanique de la -- Périodiques; Fiabilité -- Périodiques; Fracture mechanics; Reliability (Engineering); System failures (Engineering); Periodicals; Electronic journals; 620.112
• DOI: 10.1016/j.engfailanal.2021.105298
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1350-6307

Abstract

Highlights: The buckling behavior of the heated arch under a point load is different from an arch under the single loading. The critical buckling load of the elastic arch is derived analytically and verified numerically. The fire has a significant effect on the critical buckling load of the arch. The inelastic properties of the steel arch are considered and show different stability behavior from the elastic arch. Abstract: This paper focuses on the stability of thin-walled circular arches subjected to a radially-directed concentrated load at the crown point under a temperature increase up to 800℃ induced by fire. A solution is obtained analytically to predict the critical buckling load of the elastic arch based on the principle of minimum potential energy and an admissible displacement function. Subsequently, a planar numerical model is introduced to explore the maximum load (critical buckling load) by drawing the normalized load-displacement equilibrium curves. These curves from the numerical results exhibit close trends with the analytical ones for both fixed-fixed and pinned-pinned arches. In addition, steel arches with inelastic material properties and geometric nonlinearities are considered in the numerical model, indicating that inelastic properties reduce prominently the maximum load. Furthermore, all investigations show the heating process induced by the fire reduces the load capacity (maximum load) dramatically for both elastic and inelastic arches. Finally, parametric analyses are performed to examine the effect of central angle and normalized thickness on the maximum load of the arch.