Experimental study on ultimate strength of typical ship brackets under bending load

• Main Authors: WANG Xiaoqiang, HU Yaoyu, YAN Renjun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Editorial Office of Chinese Journal of Ship Research 2018-08-01
• Series: Zhongguo Jianchuan Yanjiu
• Subjects: ship brackets; ultimate strength; bending load; experimental study
• Online Access: http://www.ship-research.com/EN/Y2018/V13/I4/41

<b>[Objectives]</b> As ship structure members are mainly joined together by brackets, the mechanical properties of bracket joint have a great influence on the ultimate strength of the whole ship. <b>[Methods]</b> Ultimate strength experiments under bending loads are carried out to have better understanding of the mechanical properties and ultimate loads of different brackets,thereby obtaining the load-displacement curves, stress distribution and damage phenomena of specimens with different brackets. Analyses of their ultimate strength and average stiffness are carried out.<b>[Results]</b> It is observed that the ultimate strength of a triangle bracket specimen is greater than that of an arc bracket specimen, and the average stiffness of a triangle bracket specimen is lower than that of a larger arc bracket specimen. Under the same load,the peak stress of a triangle bracket is greater than that of an arc bracket;specimens with the same kind of bracket and different sizes have the same damage mode;however,different kinds of brackets contribute to varying damage modes even when they have the same size specimens;the ultimate strength and average stiffness between the two groups of specimens have the same changing rule and diverging changing degrees.<b>[Conclusions]</b> The analysis and obtained results of this paper provide useful references for improving the design of ship brackets.