Experimental and Analytical Study for Plastic Moment Capacity of Beam–Beam Splice Connection

Abstract

In this paper, both experimental and analytical investigations are presented for the evaluation of yield moment capacity of the extended end plate connections under pure flexural loading. Four point loading system is adopted to simulate the pure bending condition. For the experimental study a beam–beam splice connection is made by joining hollow tubular sections (HTS) using bolted end plate connections. The parameters varied for the experimental investigation are cross sectional dimensions of HTS, thickness of end plate, diameter of bolt and thickness of weld. In the analytical study, yield line theory is used for the prediction of yield moment equations of the connection for a particular modes of failure. Finally, the proposed analytical equations are validated by comparing the analytical results with the experimental results. It is found that the experimental results are in proximity with the analytical results.