Influences of chord pre-stress on CHS X-joints with high-strength-steel at various temperatures

This study examines the influence of chord pre-stress on the behaviour and load resistance of Circular Hollow Section (CHS) X-joints with High Strength Steel (HSS) at various temperatures. This investigation uses a total number of seven hundred and four Finite Element simulation results to evaluate the level of accuracy of current Eurocode and CIDECT design guidelines in predicting the high-temperature resistance of these joints. The numerical simulations investigate the effects of changing brace-to-chord diameter (β), chord semi-diameter-to-thickness (γ), and brace-to-chord thickness (τ) ratios, as well as different prestressing levels (np) and temperatures (θ). The γ and τ ratios have a limited effect on the normalised joint strength, but the β ratio, and the prestressing level are highly influential. At ambient temperature, the CIDECT design approach is a more suitable method for calculating the chord pre-stress reduction factors for S355 joints. For HSS X-joints, the constant modification coefficient of 0.80 is inadequate, and this paper has proposed a new modification coefficient as a function of the pre-stress level. At elevated temperatures, the ambient temperature resistance of CHS X-joints can be modified by the reduction factor of the Young's modulus for S355 steel and that of the yield stress for S960 steel.