Response of beam-to-tubular column angle connections subjected to combined flexure and axial loading

摘要

In some design situations, such as those involving extreme loading conditions, steel connectionsrncan play a vital role in arresting structural disproportionate collapse, and therefore should be designed to resistrnsignificant moments, axial loads, shear forces, or a combination of these actions. While the moment-rotationrnbehaviour of semi-rigid and fully-rigid connections has been studied comprehensively by previous investigators,rnthere is a relative lack of information on the connection performance under other loading conditions, particularlyrnin relation to semi-rigid connections to tubular columns. This paper is concerned with the behaviour of openrnbeam-to-tubular column angle connections subjected to axial and combined axial/flexural actions. It focuses onrntwo types of semi-rigid connections to tubular columns, including blind-bolted as well as reverse channel anglernconfigurations. To this end, an experimental study on the full component characterization of angle connectionsrnto tubular columns under tension and compression actions is summarized. The main behavioural patterns arernbriefly discussed and the salient response characteristics such as stiffness, capacity and failure mechanisms arernexamined. Based on the experimental results, detailed component models are described with due account forrnflexural and axial load interactions.