Experimental research and analytical modelling of the cyclic behaviour of bolted semi-rigid connections

A research was conducted to investigate the influence of the connection components (i.e. number of bolts, thickness of the angles and change bolts through welding) in the cyclic behaviour of the joints. Four different bolted semi-rigid angle connections were tested, which represent possible structural connections between beam and column in steel construction. All specimens were submitted to the same displacement history in order to compare the tests results. On the basis of the obtained results some qualitative conclusions are made on the influence of the modifications introduced with respect to the base joint. A mechanical model is proposed to simulate the cyclic behaviour of bolted semi-rigid connections. It needs just the stress stain relationship of the material and the geometric properties of the connection as input data. The comparison between numerical prediction and experimental results is presented to show the ability and the accuracy of the model.