A component method for cold-formed steel beam-to-column bolted gusset plate joints

Cold-formed steel elements are being used more frequently on construction sites because of the good strength-to-cost ratio. Researches on such structures show that, in most cases, the behaviour of the constitutive joints is semi-rigid. However, insufficient studies are published examining the properties of these joints. This paper presents a study of cold-formed steel bolted gusset plate connections based on the component method approach. The component method considers any joint as a set of individual basic components. In this procedure, the joints are analysed using mechanical models that are able to simulate moment - rotation M - φ relationship. In this paper the joint is analysed as made of three springs: beam bolt group, column bolt group and gusset plate. A “three springs” mechanical model and a technique to calculate joint stiffness is presented. The results predicted through the proposed mechanical model are validated through comparisons to experimental and finite element results.