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

Abstract

[Objectives] 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. [Methods] 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.[Results] 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.[Conclusions] The analysis and obtained results of this paper provide useful references for improving the design of ship brackets.

Keywords

• ship brackets
• ultimate strength
• bending load
• experimental study