Investigation of joint behavior of disk-lock and cuplok steel tubular scaffold

Abstract

This paper investigates the moment-rotation behavior of scaffold joints with different configuration. The experimental parameters include type of joint, specification and height of standing tube, and corroded or not. The test results show that although the disk-lock connection and cuplok connection are both semi-rigid joints, there are great differences in moment resistance and moment-rotation characteristic for them. The average load-bearing capacity and initial rotation stiffness of cuplok connections are about 1.8 and 2.9 times the disk-lock joints with D48 standards, respectively. Corrosion of the components may lead to a significant reduction of about 50% both in moment resistance and initial rotation stiffness. Based on the test results, a two-stage four-parameter moment-rotation model for the scaffold joints was proposed, which could well simulate the characteristics of the rotational stiffness.