Numerical modelling of the cyclic behaviour of the basic components of steel end plate connections

This paper aims at developing a new methodology based on finite element (FE ) techniques with a combination of several other methods to extend the comp onent-based design philosophy of EC3 to the cyclic behaviour of end plate c onnection. In the first part, the experimental procedure for studying the b ehaviour of an isolated T-stub as the main component of an end plate connec tion under monotonic and cyclic loading is presented. The second part compr ises the four steps necessary to build the analytical model. Firstly the mo notonic and secondly the cyclic FE models of these specimens are discussed and validated. Then, a mathematical energy balance model is developed to re produce the cyclic response. This model is the basis of a mechanical model which predicts the behaviour of a T-stub which constitutes the main compone nt of connections. With these data, a spring model is used to predict the m oment rotation curve for an isolated end plate connection. (C) 2000 Civil-C omp Ltd and Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.