Elastic behaviour of bolted connection between cylindrical steel structure and concrete foundation

• Bolted cylindrical steel structure–concrete foundation connection is investigated.
• An analytical model to obtain the elastic response of the connection is proposed.
• The effect of the bolt preloading is taken into account.
• The long time and volume behaviours of concrete are considered.
• The calculation procedure is given with illustrative examples.

The paper deals with bolted connection between cylindrical steel structures and concrete foundations. In the considered connection, the circular steel structure of large diameter is welded to a base plate, and then anchor bolts are used to connect the base plate to the concrete foundation. Repartition plates are also placed to ensure an appropriate distribution of the stresses from the steel parts into the concrete. The studied configuration is often met in industrial chimneys, wind towers, cranes, etc. To characterise the studied connection, an elastic model is more relevant than plastic model but no appropriate and efficient tools for the characterisation of its elastic behaviour are available in the codes and literatures.In the present paper, a complete analytical procedure is proposed to predict the elastic responses of the connection from their geometrical and material characteristics. Several effects are taken into account in the model, such as the effect of the bolt preloading, the long term effects in the concrete and 3D behaviour of the concrete foundation. The analytical results are validated through comparisons with numerical results. Numerical examples are also given to illustrate the proposed calculation procedure.