Resistance and failure modes of cold-formed lipped angle subjected to tensile load

Abstract

Abstract: Cold-formed steel angles could be an advantageous alterative to hot rolled steel angle for the application of light-weight electrical transmission towers. However, standard design equations to evaluate the resistance and failure modes in tension of angles connected with bolts on one leg only were not specifically developed and validated for the application of lipped angles. In particular, the phenomenon of shear lag on this type of angle is difficult to evaluate. In this paper, the behavior of cold-formed steel lipped-angle with typical transmission tower bolted connections is studied. At first, experimental tests on two and three bolts connections are performed. Tensile load is applied on a single angle configuration to investigate the failures mode and capacity of the connected members. Then, three dimension (3D) finite element (EF) models of the bolted members are developed. The accuracy of the FE models is validated by the good agreement with experimental study. Results obtained from these investigations added to other published results are compared to recommended design prediction with the aim to assess their validity and limitation. From this, a new design equation for net-section strength is proposed.