Experimental Study on Axial Compression of Circular Steel Tube Reinforced by Self-Tapping Cable and Sleeve Tube

Abstract

The stability of key compression components in space truss structures has a significant impact on the ultimate bearing capacity of the overall structure. To address the instability issue of compression components and improve their axial deformation, this paper proposes a self-tapping cable-sleeve circular steel tube compression component. This innovative component is designed to effectively address the instability issue, providing a reliable solution. To verify the mechanical performance of the proposed specimen, two sets of six full-scale specimens were fabricated based on the lengths of conventional truss structures. The first set consisted of three full-scale self-tapping cable-sleeve specimens, while the second set consisted of three specimens with the same diameter and wall thickness as the inner tube of the self-tapping cable-sleeve. The self-tapping cable-sleeve circular steel tube compression component comprises an inner steel tube, an outer sleeve, end plates, steel-stranded wire, and steel-stranded wire connectors. Experimental results indicate that the self-tapping cable-sleeve component, due to the constraint provided by the outer sleeve, enhances the stability-bearing capacity of the inner tube. Under the same external load, the axial deformation of the self-tapping cable-sleeve component is five times that of the unconstrained inner tube. Additionally, there were sudden stress drops in the steel-stranded wire during the experiment. Based on the experimental results, this paper discusses methods to eliminate this sudden stress drop.