Improvement of beam type element models of welded tubular junctions for fatigue analysis using artificial neural networks.

The use of numerical methods for structural analysis has been increasingly integrated within the design process in different engineering fields over the last decades, inasmuch as the capacity of the computing resources have growth. This gave rise to calculation techniques based on virtual models such as the finite element method, which is nowadays a reference method for evaluation of complex tubular structures with vast application in the industry. For such type of structures, modeling approaches based on beam type elements are usually employed since they provide simplicity and low computational costs.

Validation of Alternative Beam T-Junction Fem Models for Complex Tubular Structures.

The finite element analysis of tubular structures is typically based on models constructed employing beam-type elements. This modeling technique provides a quick and computationally efficient option for calculation. Nevertheless, it shows a series of limitations related to the simplicity of this type of element, among which the inability of accounting for the stiffness behavior at the joint level is of notable importance when modeling complex tubular structures.