Influence of the End-Plate Thickness on the Steel Beam-to-Column Joint Stiffness when Subject to Bending

Based on the numerical simulation performed within the Abaqus computational environment for a typical end-plate beam-to-column joint the influence of the endplate thickness on the effective joint rigidity has been verified. The initial joint rigidity at first determined for 20 mm thick end-plate has been compared with rigidity of the joint constructed with substantially more flexible end-plates 10, 8 and 6 mm thick. In all the considered cases the column was equipped with horizontal ribs stiffening the web at the height of beam top and bottom flange. No diagonal ribs were applied. In addition the column flange at the zone directly adjacent to the beam end-plate in all the analyzed cases has been set to 30 mm. This way it did not affect the computationally determined rigidity of considered joints. Juxtaposition of M-ϕ curves characterizing the considered joints and depicting the relationship between the applied bending moment and relative change of the initial angle between undeformed axes of beam and column in the analyzed frame indicates qualitatively different modes of destruction of the considered joints, and thus different computational models determining their bearing capacity. In the first case obtained parameters seem to indicate that the joint is nominally rigid but in all the remaining cases the bearing capacity seems to be exhausted by the increasing deformation of the more and more flexible end-plate.