Design Method for End-Plate Bolted Connections

Abstract

The design of buildings envelopes is more elaborate than it has ever been. Starting from the design method of nodal space frames made of one layer of structure and covered in glass, this paper presents e new type of end-plate beam to beam connection. Specific to this is the fact that both end-plates are welded inside of the tubes, having a minimum gap between them of 2 mm. This will reduce considerably the in-surface and welding-induced end plates tolerances which appear at classical end-plate connections. Through the pre-tensioning of the bolts, a continuous contact surface is assured along the cross-sections of the hollow profiles. Several tests were run with the software Gas Win in order to establish the maximum capacity of the connection. This condition is achieved when the neutral axis goes out of the crosssection and the entire cross-section is compressed. Installation hand-holes were also considered. In order to get a better understanding about the force flow, an FEM analysis was run using the Abaqus software. A comparison between the results followed.