Characterization of components in steel and composite connections under cyclic loading

An analytical description of the behaviour of a joint has to cover all sources of deformabilities, local yielding, plastic redistribution within the joint itself and local instabilities. Due to the multitude of influencing parameters, a macroscopic inspection of the complex joint - by subdividing it into components has proved to be the most appropriate. As the component tests are relatively cheap, a variety of influencing parameters can be covered. With the help of comprehensive parametric studies, using non-linear finite elements models, the sophisticated and relatively complex formulae describing stiffness, resistance and deformation ability of each component can be reduced to easy-to-handle formats. Reliability techniques combined with non-linear analysis of structures will be applied to interpret the effects of parameter variability on the global structural behaviour and to quantify the risk of failure. Simplified safety rules are derived from this probabilistic high-level approach.