THE EFFECT OF MATERIAL DISCONTINUITY ON THE FLANGES OF AXIALLY COMPRESSED STEEL CONES

This paper aims to present experimental data on the buckling behavior of mild steel truncated cones with local material discontinuity on the flange of a percentage of the hoop length of the small ends of the cone subjected to axial compression. Six truncated cones were manufactured with nominal geometry given by r2/t = 50.0, r2/r1 = 2.0, h/r2 = 2.24, β =12.58º and wall thickness, t = 1.0 mm. Cones were manufactured from welded mild steel plate with 6 mm thick integral top and bottom flanges. The flange is fully welded to the big end of the cone. While at the small end of the cone, material discontinuity is introduced. Results of experimental tests reveal that two nominally identical cones failed at almost the same magnitude of collapse load (49.35 kN and 50.39 kN). For axially compressed cones with material discontinuity at the top flange applied to a fraction of the circumference, experimental results also show that as the material discontinuity increases, the collapse load decreases. In conclusion, for axially compressed cones, material discontinuity on the flange of the fraction of the circumference leads to a reduction in the buckling load of the cone.