Theoretical study on initial stiffness of thin-walled steel T-stubs taking account of prying force

Abstract

Based on the stationary value principle of energy and considering the influence of the distribution of prying forces on the initial stiffness of thin-walled steel T-stubs, the prediction formula for the position of prying force is derived. According to this formula, the theoretical calculation procedure of initial stiffness of thin-walled steel T-stubs is proposed. To validate the accuracy of this theoretical method, the proposed procedure is adopted to calculate the initial stiffness of a series of cases, afterwards the results of theoretical calculation and FE simulation are compared, in which the maximum deviation is within 10%.