Aluminium members in composite structures – a review

Abstract

This paper presents a review of composite structures in which aluminium alloys are used. Current trends in the research of composite structures with aluminium girders and their possible applications in structural engineering were shown. In the presented solutions, advantageous properties of aluminium alloys were exploited, such as high strength-to-weight ratio, corrosion resistance and recyclability. The authors demonstrated the structural behaviour of aluminium-concrete and aluminiumtimber composite beams based on their own tests as well as investigations presented in the literature. Furthermore, aluminium-concrete composite columns, a composite mullion made of an aluminium alloy and timber, and a military bridge consisting of aluminium truss components, a stay-in-place-form, reinforcement and concrete were presented. In addition to the description of the structural elements, the main conclusions from their experimental, theoretical and numerical analyses were also demonstrated in this paper. The connection of aluminium girders with concrete or timber slabs provided for the increase of the load-bearing capacity and stiffness, and it eliminated the problem of local buckling in girder flanges and lateral-torsional buckling of girders in the analysed solutions.

Review of the Short-Term Properties of Confined Seawater Sea Sand Concrete Columns under Compression

“…Figure 3 shows the stress-strain curves of carbon steel, stainless steel, and aluminium [90]. As expected, the confinement efficiency of aluminium alloy tubes also depends on the cross-sectional shape, diameter-to-thickness ratio of the tube and concrete strength [91]. Table 8 summarises the properties of aluminium alloy tubes used so far to confine SWSSC.…”

Theoretical and Numerical Analyses of Steel-timber Composite Beams with LVL Slabs

“…The Hashin damage model was used to capture the failure of LVL. The material parameters were based on the material tests and the numerical simulations of the LVL slabs [5] (Table 5). 4-node bilinear plane stress quadrilateral elements with reduced integration and hourglass control (CPS4R) were used to model all members.…”

“…Table 5. The properties of the LVL modelled as an orthotropic material with the Hashin damage model, based on [5] (1parallel to the laminated veneer lumber grain) Elastic orthotropic material (lamina) E1 The chosen point for the measurement of the deflection, the boundary conditions and the points were the displacement in y direction was set are presented in Fig. 18.…”

“…The benefits of engineering wood products include decreased impact of imperfections, more homogenous mechanical properties, increased dimensional stability, greater durability and development of bigger structural elements [3,4]. LVL consists of several glued softwood veneers about 3 mm thick [5]. In Poland, LVL is made from pine and spruce [6].…”

“…For this reason, steel girders should be protected against it. Stainless steel or aluminium alloys may also be used instead of carbon steel [34,35]. The use of stainless steel can provide for a durable solution.…”