Numerical study on the behaviour of vertical bolted joints for precast concrete wall-based low-rise buildings

Abstract

This paper presents a numerical study on the cyclic behavior of the vertical bolted joints in low-rise precast concrete buildings. A finite element analysis model was developed for predicting the cyclic behavior of the joints which was proved with the experimental results. A step-by-step procedure was developed to carry out the finite element analysis for the contact analysis in the bolted connections. The developed approach was then applied for a parametric study to investigate the effects of main structural design factors on the joints, including the number of bolts per joint, the compressive strength of concrete, the yield strength and diameter of bolts, the thickness of blocks, the yield strength and thickness of gusset plates, the clearance of bolt as well as the arrangement of bolts in joints. Results show that the number of and the properties of steel bolts both have a significant influence on the connection performances of and the failure modes of the joints. Based on the analysis results, a smiplified model was proposed for predicting the shear capacity of the bolted joints which was expected to improve the design of proposed low-rise precast concrete buildings.