Experimental and analytical behavior of bolted end-plate connections with or without stiffeners

This paper presents the experimental results of eight specimens of steel bolted connections beam-to-column and beam-to-beam with flush or extended endplate. Four of the connections have the end-plates reinforced with stiffeners in the extended parts. The column used is with low resistance to observe the competition between the failure modes in the tension and compression zones. The results are analyzed on the basis of the global moment–rotation curves and the evolution of the tension forces in the bolts. The main parameters observed are the failure modes, the evolution of the resistance, the stiffness and the rotation capacity. The experimental results are used as a basis of comparison with the analytical results given by the component method of Eurocode 3. The main goal of this comparison is to evaluate the accuracy of the analytical method including the connections with stiffeners in the extended part of the end-plates.

► Experimental results of bolted connections with stiffeners are presented.
► Failure modes in tension and compression zones and the position of compression force are observed.
► The experimental results are compared to those of the EC3 (resistance and stiffness).
► The evolution of the forces in the bolts is observed and T-stub model used to evaluate the row-forces.