THE FLEXIBILITY OF UNIPLANAR AND MULTIPLANAR JOINTS MADE OF CIRCULAR HOLLOW SECTION

This paper considers the flexibility of uniplanar and multiplanar joints made of circular hollow sections, based on a numerical investigation. The numerical work investigates the influence of joint parameters beta and tau on joint flexibility. For uniplanar joints, T-, Y- and K-joints are investigated and for multiplanar joints, KK-gap joints and KK-overlapped joints with 100% overlap are investigated. Furthermore, the effects of the flexibility on the load distribution with a triangular cross sectional framework are presented, where different types of numerical idealisations are used. This information can be used in determining the deflection of girders and the moment distribution in girders.