EXTENDED END-PLATE CONNECTIONS IN STEEL STRUCTURES: NUMERICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL TESTING

This paper deals with the structural behaviour of extended end - plate bolted connections and especially of full-scale unstiffened cantilever connections of HEA- and IPE-sections subjected to loading. The connection behaviour is characterized by the tension force in the bolt, by the extended end-plate behaviour, by the moment-rotation relation and by the beam and column strains. The experimental test results are compared with a numerical approach based on the finite element method and is coupled with the theory of non-smooth mechanics. The problem under consideration is formulated as a hemivariational inequality leading to a substationarity problem of the potential or the complementary energy of the connection. The latter is solved by applying a non-convex non-smooth optimization algorithm. The comparison of the results of the experimental test with the numerical simulation proves the effectiveness of the proposed numerical method.