Experimental study on standard and innovative bolted end-plate beam-to-beam joints under bending

Abstract

The paper presents the details and results of an experimental study on bolted end-plate joints of industrial type steel building frames. The investigated joints are commonly used in Lindab-Astron industrial buildings and are optimized for manufacturing, erection and durability. The aim of the research was to provide an experimental background for the design model development by studying load-bearing capacity of joints, bolt force distribution, and end-plate deformations. Because of the special joint details, (i.e., joints with four bolts in one bolt-row and HammerHead arrangements), the Eurocode 3 standardized component model had to be improved and extended. The experimental programme included six different end-plate and bolt arrangements and covered sixteen specimens. The steel grade of test specimens was S355, the bolt diameter M20, whereas the bolt grade was 8.8 and 10.9 for the two series. The end-plate thickness varied between 12 mm and 24 mm. The specimens were investigated under pure bending conditions using a four-point-bending test arrangement. In all tests the typical displacements and the bolt force distribution were measured. The end-plate plastic deformations were measured after the tests by an automatic measuring device. The measured data were presented and evaluated by the moment-bolt-row force and momentdistance from centre of compression diagrams and by the deformed end-plate surfaces. From the results the typical failure modes and the joint behaviour were specified and presented. Furthermore the influence of the end-plate thickness and the pretension of the bolts on the behaviour of bolted joints were analysed.