ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: Nowadays optimization of tubular structures plays a significant role in the design of industrial buildings. Particular attention in this regard is paid to welded tubular joints. During optimization a wide range of joint geometries and sections are explored. Determining mechanical properties for each joint requires computationally intensive Finite Element Analyses (FEA) which makes the optimization procedure inapplicable. Application of approximate surrogate models of the joint responses enables to obtain analytical expressions of initial rotational stiffness, leading to a significant reduction of computational efforts. This paper describes a surrogate modeling procedure for initial rotational stiffness of welded RHS Y joints made of HSS. At sample and validation points the joints were analyzed using comprehensive FEA. The surrogate model was determined by the Kriging method.
