Finite element analysis of cold formed steel connections

Abstract

This paper presents a thorough investigation into the structural performance of cold-formed steel column base and beam column connections using single lipped C sections with bolted moment connections. Two specimens consisting of a column base and a beam column connection were carried out, and it was found that section failure under flexural buckling was always critical. Moreover, the proposed connections were demonstrated to be structurally efficient attaining moment resistances close to those of the connected sections. In order to examine the structural behavior of the column base and beam column connections, finite element models were established using shell and bar elements to model the sections and the bolted fastenings respectively. Material non-linearity was incorporated, and comparison between the test and the numerical results was presented in details. It was shown that the proposed analysis method was structurally adequate to predict the structural behavior for column base and beam column with similar connection configurations.