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Structural Behavior Of Lap Shear Connections With Thermally Insulating Filler Plates, Salih Qasim Mahmood

Dissertations and Theses

This research consists of experimental load tests and numerical simulations of structural steel connections with various filler materials to study the effect of non-steel fillers on the connection strength. Non-steel fillers are used in the steel connections to provide thermal insulation by reducing thermal bridging. Eight specimens having steel and polypropylene filler plates of various thicknesses were tested in the laboratory. The collected data were compared to a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) using ABAQUS to validate the numerical results. After validation, three parametric studies were conducted using ABAQUS to provide insight into general behavior of connections with a variety of …