Effects of transverse welds on aluminum alloy columns

Abstract This paper investigates the effects of transverse welds on aluminum alloy columns. The materials of the specimens were 6063-T5 and 6061-T6 heat-treated aluminum alloys. Various coupon tests were performed to obtain the non-welded and welded material properties of aluminum alloys. An accurate and reliable finite element model (FEM) was used for the simulation of aluminum alloy stub columns of square and circular hollow sections (SHS, CHS) in this study. The stress–strain relationships obtained from the coupon tests were incorporated in the FEM. A parametric study was conducted that included 48 columns of different section shapes with and without transverse welds at the ends of the columns. This study focused on the effects of transverse welds on column strengths with respect to the section slenderness. Hence, the parametric study was performed on stub columns of SHS and CHS in constant column length. The European Code for aluminum structures uses the heat-affected zone (HAZ) softening factor to consider the weakening effects of transverse welds on column strength. The HAZ softening factors obtained from the parametric study were compared with the corresponding values specified in the European Code. HAZ softening factors were proposed in this study.