Full-scale test on CHS joints of Dalian gymnasium

The performance of some key joints with circular hollow sections (CHS) in the steel structure of Dalian gymnasium has an important influence on the performance of the whole structure. Therefore, two series of full-scale tests were conducted and whether the joint strengthened or not was the only different in each series. Results show that the CHS joints without strengthening are destructive due to the large plastic deformation under design loads. However, the performance of the CHS joints strengthened by an inside gusset plate is obviously improved and its performance is largely increased. Then, the comparison between the numerical values using ANSYS and the tested values was conducted. It is shown that both of the values are in good agreement with each other. Based on the mentioned above, some key CHS joint strengthening methods are suggested during a construction procedure.