Theoretical and experimental study on the temperature distribution of H-shaped steel members under solar radiation

Thermal effects on steel structures exposed to solar radiation are significant and complicated. Furthermore, the temperature variation within a year may result in damage in steel structures considering the solar radiation. In this paper, the temperature distribution of H-shaped steel members was investigated through a systematic experimental and theoretical study in the case of solar radiation. First, an H-shaped steel specimen was designed and its temperature distribution under solar radiation was obtained by a test. After that, a numerical method was proposed to obtain the temperature distribution under solar radiation. This method was based on transient thermal analysis and the analytical result was verified by the above experimental result. Furthermore, a parametric study was conducted to investigate the influence of various solar radiation parameters and orientation of H-shaped steel members on the temperature distribution under solar radiation. Finally, a simplified approach was developed to predict the temperature distribution under solar radiation. Both experimental and numerical results showed that the solar radiation had a significant effect on the temperature distribution of H-shaped steels. Considering the solar radiation, the temperature of the specimen is about 20.6 °C higher than the surrounding ambient air temperature. The temperature distribution under solar radiation was observed to be sensitive to the steel solar radiation absorption and orientation, but insensitive to the solar radiation reflectance.

► The temperature of H-shaped steel members was measured under solar radiation.
► A numerical method was proposed to consider the shadow of solar radiation.
► A parametric study was conducted.
► A simplified approach for temperature distribution was developed and verified.