مشخصات پژوهش

The heat-affected zone (HAZ) created by welding is known to affect the failure mode of I-shaped links due to the transformation of the microstructures of base metal by the localized and transient high temperatures of welding. A parametric study was performed in this paper to explore the adverse effects of HAZ on the cyclic backbone curve of low-yield-point (LYP) steel links. To this end, 54 I-shaped links were simulated in ABAQUS. Next, these models were numerically analyzed to determine the effect of the number of flux cored arc welding (FCAW) and shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) passes on the damage initiation and propagation, ultimate shear strength, and deformation capacity of the I-shaped LYP links with or without intermediate stiffeners. The results demonstrated that the number of welding passes considerably affects the overstrength factor, damage initiation, and rotation capacity of the links, especially in the links without intermediate stiffeners. The crack rotation, ultimate rotation, and overstrength factor of these links, respectively, decreased by up to 62, 67, and 14% when the number of FCAW and SMAW passes increases from two and one to approximately five and two passes, respectively.