AUTHORS

Dr. Ing. Carlos A. Recarey Morfa and Dr. Ing. Gilberto Quevedo Sotolongo
Universidad Central de Las Villas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo de las Estructuras y los Materiales (CIDEM), Cuba

Dr. Ing. Enrique Mirambell Arrizabalaga and Ing. Jaume Santaeugenia González
Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña. Escuela de Caminos Canales y Puertos de Barcelona, Spain

ABSTRACT

The  numerical simulation running for an experiment of mixed structure connectors is presented.  In this process were used the concerning guidelines for this kind of test in the Euro-code, (anexe Y of Euro-code 3,  paragraph 10.2 of part 1-1 of Euro-code 4 and anexe F).  A general theorical approach  is presented, based upon stochastic mechanic researchs directed towards structural security and reliability issues. The virtual modeling of conectors  is done using the Finite Elements Method; as constitutive equations plastic and elastoplastic models were used. The computational tools were: GID, as pre and postprocessor; as solver, the COMET package; both developed in the International Center for Numerial Methods in Ingeniering (CIMNE, by it's spanish abbreviation).

A handful of techniques were used as a whole: numeric simulation (in the connectors simulation experiment) and the theory of security and the stochastic fitting of input variables to the simulation process. This way, the behaviour of random output variables is watched (final endurance of the connector), which in turn let's to take statistcal concern of these variables and to define the security level and relativity index  b.  These kind of research let the ingeniers fix the best security coefficients in order to sucessfully deploy limit states of connectors.