Bolted connections of cold-formed stainless steel at elevated temperatures and post-fire condition

Abstract

The structural behaviour of single shear bolted connections and double shear bolted connections of cold-formed stainless steel at elevated temperatures and post-fire condition has been investigated in this study. The current design rules on bolted connections of cold-formed stainless steel are mainly based on those of carbon steel, and are applicable for room (ambient) temperature condition only. These design rules may not be applicable for elevated temperatures. Therefore, design guidelines should be prepared for bolted connections of cold-formed stainless steel structures at elevated temperatures. The key findings of the investigation are described in the following paragraphs. A total of 25 tensile coupon tests were conducted to investigate the material deterioration of three different grades of stainless steel at elevated temperatures. The stainless steels are austenitic stainless steel EN 1.4301 (AISI 304) and EN 1.4571 (AISI 316Ti having small amount of titanium) as well as lean duplex stainless steel EN 1.4162 (AISI S32101). Totally 434 tests on bolted connections of stainless steel were performed in the temperature ranged from 22 to 950 ºC using both steady state and transient state test methods. The test results were compared with the nominal strengths calculated from the American Specification, Australian/New Zealand Standard and European codes for stainless steel structures. In calculating the nominal strengths of the connections, the material properties at elevated temperatures were used in the design equations for room temperature. It is shown that the nominal strengths predicted by these specifications are generally conservative at elevated temperatures. A total of 78 cold-formed stainless steel single shear and double shear bolted connections were tested in post-fire condition. The test results were compared with those tested at room temperature. Generally, it is found that the bolted connection strengths in post-fire condition cooling down from 350 and 650 ºC are higher than those tested at room temperature for all three grades of stainless steel. Finite element models for single shear and double shear bolted connections were developed and verified against the experimental results. Static analysis technique was used in the numerical analyses. Extensive parametric studies that included 450 specimens were performed using the verified finite element models to evaluate the bearing resistances of bolted connections of stainless steel at elevated temperatures. Design equations for bearing resistances of cold-formed stainless steel single shear and double shear bolted connections were proposed based on both the experimental and numerical results in the temperature ranged from 22 to 950 ºC. The bearing resistances of bolted connections obtained from the tests and the finite element analyses were compared with the nominal strengths calculated using the current design rules and also compared with the predicted strengths calculated using the proposed design equations. It is shown that the proposed design equations are generally more accurate and reliable in predicting the bearing resistances of bolted connections at elevated temperatures than the current design rules. The reliability of the current and proposed design rules was evaluated using reliability analysis. The proposed design equations are recommended for bolted connections assembled using cold-formed stainless steels.