Cooperation Unit - Timorese Academic Journal of Science & Technology

Abstract: This paper presents the experimental study to reveal the effect of the dimensions of the square steel tubes and the span between lower anvils on the initial peak force that is often recognized as the collapse strength and the deformation behavior in 3-point bending. Four different sizes of square tubes in the edge length were prepared and tested using a hydraulic universal testing machine. The tube plastically deformed at the central region contacting to the upper anvil. It collapses at the region when the anvil force reaches to the maximum. The deformed portion is limited, which is often called “plastic hinge”. The initial peak force increased as the span became narrow and the edge length of the tube became longer, where the wall thickness was constant. The collapse force was also evaluated for the relative span to the edge length of the square tube, in which the difference between the strengths decreased.

Keywords: square steel tube, three-point bending, collapse strength