Nonlinear Performance of Extended Stiffened End Plate Bolted Beam-to-column Joints Subjected to Column Removal

Abstract

This paper presents a numerical study on the behavior of extended stiffened end plate bolted beam-to-column joints subjected to sudden column removal. To this aim, finite element analyses, validated against experimental tests available from literature, were carried out to investigate the response of the joints under catenary action. The influence of additional bolt rows, generally ineffective in case of design for pure bending response, was also examined and some practical design implications have been drawn up from the parametric study.