Mechanical properties of new stainless steel-aluminum alloy composite joint in tower structures

Tower structures have been widely used in communication and transmission engineering. The failure of joints is the leading cause of structure failure, which make it play a crucial role in tower structure engineering. In this study, the aluminum alloy three tube tower structure is taken as the prototype, and the middle joint of the tower was selected as the research object. Three different stainless steel-aluminum alloy composite joints (SACJs), denoted by TA, TB and TC, were designed. Finite element (FE) modeling analysis was used to compare and determine the TC joint as the best solution. Detail requirements of fasteners in the TC stainless steel-aluminum alloy composite joint (TC-SACJ) were designed and verified. In order to systematically and comprehensively study the mechanical properties of TC-SACJ under multi-directional loading conditions, the full-scale experiments and FE simulation models were all performed for mechanical response analysis. The failure modes, loadcarrying capacities, and axial load versus displacement/stain testing curves of all full-scale specimens under tension/compression loading conditions were obtained. The results show that the maximum vertical displacement of aluminum alloy tube is 26.9mm, and the maximum lateral displacement of TC-SACJs is 1.0 mm. In general, the TC-SACJs are in an elastic state under the design load, which meet the design requirements and has a good safety reserve. This work can provide references for the design and engineering application of aluminum alloy tower structures.