Studies on composite joints under gravity and lateral loads

Abstract

Composite beams are connected to steel or composite columns through various types of composite joints, which provide different degrees of flexural continuity from the columns to the composite beams. The flexural rigidities, the deformation capacities and the moment capacities of composite beam-column joints have significant effects on the structural behaviour of the semi-continuous composite beams and composite frames. Among various types of composite beam-column joints, composite joints with end-plates are most commonly used in modern composite buildings because of their high moment capacities and rotation capacities. In this paper, generalised three-dimensional finite element models are proposed to study the structural performance of practical composite joints with end-plates with the careful incorporation of the flexibility of shear connectors and tensile reinforcement. In order to ensure the general applicability of the proposed numerical models, the studies include both the composite joints in semi-continuous beams under gravity loads and the joints in sub-frames under lateral loads; and propose a generalised finite element model for the stiffness and load carrying capacity prediction of composite end-plate joints under various load cases as well. Various important structural behaviour of the composite end-plate joint is also studied through the numerical simulation. © Institution of Engineers Australia, 2011.