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NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF EXTENDED & FLUSHED ULTRA-LARGE

CAPACITY END-PLATE CONNECTIONS

Preprint · October 2020

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.20199.27042

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 NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF EXTENDED & FLUSHED

ULTRA-LARGE CAPACITY END-PLATE CONNECTIONS

A.A. Ramzi 1, I.M. El Aghoury 2*, S. Ibrahim 3 & A.I. El-Serwi 4

1
Research Assistant, Department of Structural Engineering, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
2
Associate Professor, Department of Structural Engineering, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
3
Professor, Department of Structural Engineering, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
4
Professor, Department of Structural Engineering, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
1 3 4
ahmed.ramzi@eng.asu.edu.eg sherif_ibraim@eng.asu.edu.eg ahmed_ismail@eng.asu.edu.eg
2*
ihab.elaghoury@eng.asu.edu.eg

ABSTRACT

Bolted moment connections are divided into extended or flushed and stiffened or

unstiffened depending on the bolt arrangement, end-plate thickness and the configuration of

stiffeners. The moment resistance and the rotational stiffness are the main parameters in the

classification of moment connections. The need for smaller beam depths in case of large spans

leads the designer to use four bolts per row to increase the capacity of the connections. These

types of connections are known as ultra large capacity end-plate connections (12 to 16 bolts

around tension flange). The behavior and design of this bolt configuration (four bolts per row)

hasn’t yet been included in any international codes. In this research, extended and flushed end-

plate connection configurations using 12 bolts in tension zone (four bolts per row) are studied.

For this aim, several 3-D finite element models have been prepared using the finite element

computer program ANSYS v18. The developed finite element model is validated using

experimental results previously conducted by other researchers. A set of numerical models

were developed including a parametric variation for end-plate thickness, bolt diameter, beam

depth, steel grade, adding of horizontal stiffeners and bolt grade on three different
configurations for extended and flushed connections. Finally, conclusions are summarized, and

a simplified design procedure is proposed then validated.

Keywords

End-plate Connections; Ultra-Large Capacity Connections; Four bolts per row

1. INTRODUCTION

Bolted end-plate connections are usually classified according to their flexural resistance

and rotational stiffness. The moment resistance of any connection is controlled by its different

components such as the end-plate thickness, bolt diameter, bolt grade and the existence of

stiffeners (if any). End-plate connections are mainly used as moment connections to connect

various steel elements of frames especially in beam–to-column connections and beam-to-beam

connections as they require less supervision and assembly time. Researchers have been

investigating its behavior since the early 1950s which resulted in establishing a design

procedure and moment-rotation curves for both flushed and extended end-plate connections.

Connections are classified into ordinary, large capacity and ultra-large capacity end-

plate connections according to the total number of tension bolts, as illustrated in

Fig. 1. [1].

Regular extended and flushed end-plate connections behavior have been studied

experimentally [2–4], and analytically by using verified finite element models (FEMs) to

include more different parameters and configurations [5–7]. Based on these studies, several

methods have been proposed to predict the moment-rotation curves [8–11].

In cases where the moment capacity required for end-plate connections is increased,

regular end-plate connections might not meet the required moment resistance [12–15]. Large
capacity end-plate connections, with eight bolts arranged around tension flange (four bolts per

row), have been proposed and investigated by several researchers [16–19].

Ultra-large capacity end-plate connections with 12-16 bolts around tension flange were

investigated using experimental and numerical studies [1,20–22]. The study showed that such

assembly is characterized by the non-uniform distribution of the bolts forces depending on the

bolts location. Also, the end-plate is subjected to biaxial bending and a model for the

distribution of forces is suggested. Existing design codes and guides offer no proper guidance

on this type of connection as the design equations stated for regular extended and flushed end

plate connections cannot be applied in the investigated assembly, due to the complex

distribution of forces and end-plate deformations [23–27]. Fig. 1 illustrates different types of

bolted end-plate connections.

Ordinary end-plate Large capacity end-plate Ultra-large capacity end-plate

Fig. 1. Different types of bolted end-plate connections.

In this study, a set of numerical models including a parametric variation for end-plate

thickness, bolt diameter, beam depth, steel grade, bolt grade and presence of horizontal

stiffeners are conducted. Results of these numerical models are used to investigate the influence

of each parameter on the moment resistance. Then, a simplified design method is suggested

based on these results.

2. FINITE ELEMENT MODELLING

2.1. Element types and meshing process

 The finite element (FE) computer package (ANSYS workbench, Version18.2) is used

throughout this study [28] . All the components of the beam-to-column connection (end-plate,

bolt head, nut and shank, stiffeners, flanges and webs) are modelled using twenty-node 3-D

quadratic elements (SOLID186) having 3-degrees of freedom per node. 20-node solid elements

support plasticity, hyper elasticity, creep, stress stiffening, large deflection, and large strain

capabilities. Contact surfaces between end-plate, bolt head, shank and nut and column flange

are defined using contact elements (CONTA174 and TARGE170) as a frictional or bonded

type. The PRETS179 element with one translation degree of freedom, UX. (UX represents the

defined pretension direction) is used to define pretension load applied to the bolt in a separate

load step. In order to decrease analysis time, only one half of each studied connection is

modelled, and adaptive mesh is used. Figure 3 and Figure 4 show two meshing zones, fine

mesh size with maximum size of 6mm is used in the end-plate connection zone while, a coarse

mesh size is used in the remaining parts.

Fig. 2. Adaptive meshing used in the analysis.

To adopt the in-elastic behavior of the connection, a tri-linear stress-strain curve is used

in modelling steel plates while a bi-linear stress-strain curve is used in modelling bolts as shown

in, as shown in Fig. 3.

 Fig. 3. Stress-strain curves for different components of the studied connections.

2.2. Verification of FE model

The finite element model was verified using an experimental program performed by

[1]. The experimental program included a series of four specimens to investigate the ultimate

moment capacity of connection and to track the moment-rotation curve as shown in Table 1.

The specimens were divided into two groups of bolt arrangement layout. Type A refers to three

specimen’s connections with 16 bolts around the tension flange with variable end-plate

thickness and bolt diameter. Type B refers to one specimen with 12 bolts around the tension

flange with 32mm end-plate thickness and M30 bolt diameter. The tested four specimens were

used for the purpose of the model calibration and verification of the numerical analysis. A

schematic drawing of the test specimens and meshing of the developed FE model along with

the test setup are shown in Fig. 4.

Table 1
Details and configurations of the four specimens [1].
End-plate thickness Bolt diameter
Specimen Type
(mm) (mm)
1-EP32-M30-A A 32 30
2-EP25-M30-A A 25 30
3-EP32-M27-A A 32 27
4-EP32-M30-B B 32 30
 Fig. 4. Test setup and finite element model created.

The mode of failure and deformations in the proposed FE model were almost the same

as the failure mode and deformations recorded from the experimental program. A Comparison

between the end-plate deformation in specimen 2-EP25-M30-A and that of the proposed FE

model is shown in Fig. 5. Also, the comparison between the experimental program results and

the proposed numerical model results with the failure mode are summarized in Table 2.

The proposed FE model shows a good agreement in the prediction of the failure load

and deformations with an average value of the ratio between failure load from FE to the

corresponding experimental specimen equals to 0.96 and with standard deviation of 3%.

Table 2
Comparison between FEMs and experimental results.
Experimental test Proposed Finite model
Specimen FEM/Test
(KN) (KN)
F1-EP32-M30-A 2013.5 2000 0.993
F2-EP25-M30-A 1660 1494 0.90
F3-EP32-M27-A 1829 1780 0.973
F4-EP32-M30-B 1958 1895 0.97
Average 0.96
Standard deviation 0.03
 Fig. 5. Comparison between the end-plate deformation in specimen 2-EP25-M30-A and
that of the proposed FE model.

To validate the reliability of the created proposed finite model, the relation between the

connection rotation and the applied bending moment are compared to the results of the

experimental program and finite element model (prepared by [1]) as illustrated in Fig. 6. The

results of the FE model for all previously analyzed specimens showed that the proposed FEM

is in good agreement with the experimental program. This indicates that the proposed FE model

is trusted and can be extended to perform further parametric studies.

7000 6000

6000 5000
Moment (kN.m)
Moment (kN.m)

5000
4000
4000
3000
3000 F1-EP32-M30-A 2-EP25-M30-A
G.Shi Exp. test 2000 G.Shi Exp. test
2000
Proposed FEM Proposed FEM
1000 1000
G.Shi FEM G.Shi FEM
0 0
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.000 0.005 0.010 0.015 0.020 0.025
Rotation (rad) Rotation (rad)
 6000 6000

5000 5000

Moment (kN.m)

Moment (kN.m)
4000 4000

3000 3000
3-EP32-M27-A 4-EP32-M30-B
2000 G.Shi Exp. test 2000 G.Shi Exp. test

Proposed FEM Proposed FEM

1000 1000
G.Shi FEM G.Shi FEM
0 0
0.000 0.005 0.010 0.015 0.020 0.025 0.000 0.005 0.010 0.015 0.020 0.025
Rotation (rad) Rotation (rad)

Fig. 6. Comparison between moment rotation curves obtained by [1]

experimental, finite element model and those of the proposed FE model.

3. PARAMETRIC STUDY

The behavior of any connection depends on the dimensions of the connecting elements

such as endplate thickness, bolt diameter. Moreover,it also depends on the beam depth, steel

grade, bolt grade, arrangement of the bolts and the existence of stiffeners. To perform the

parametric study, the determination of the range of the input variables is very important.

Therefore, the geometric parameters are selected and varied. Table 3 shows the chosen

parameters for the numerical analysis for the six studied configurations are illustrated in Fig.

7. To study the different parameters and clarify their effect on the ultimate moment capacity of

connection, only one parameter was changed per model.

Table 3
Parametric range of selected parameters
Parametric range of selected parameters for the six studied configurations
End-plate thickness (mm) 14 20 25 30 35 40 50 60
Bolt diameter (mm) M16 M20 M22 M24 M27 M30
Depth of beam (mm) 600 750 900
Bolt grade 8.8 10.9
Steel grade S235 S355
 Extended Configurations Flushed Configurations

Configuration Configuration Configuration Configuration Configuration Configuration

(1) (2) (3) (1) (2) (3)
No stiffener One stiffener Two stiffeners No stiffener One stiffener Two stiffeners
Fig. 7. The extended and flushed studied configurations.

A FE model was developed representing a beam-to-column connection with boundary

conditions as illustrated in Fig. 8. Upper and lower column-ends are introduced in the model

as fixed supports. A lateral support is assigned to prevent the beam from lateral torsional

buckling (LTB). Due to symmetry, half of each connection is modeled. Symmetric boundary

conditions are implemented for the nodes along the plane of symmetry. The external load is

applied at the far-end of the beam as a displacement in a separate step. Before applying the

external load, the bolts pre-tension forces were applied for all bolts. The failure mode of the

connections is reached when the stress in bolts reaches the maximum tensile strength of bolts

or at end-plate plastification whichever occurs first. Throughout the parametric study, these

parameters were kept constant:

- Column cross-section with web dimensions 400x20mm and flange dimensions (16

times the bolt diameter) and 50mm thick. Constant beam cross-section with web

thickness 16mm and flange dimensions (16 times the bolt diameter) and 40mm thick.

The free length of the beam is 3 meters.

- All stiffeners used for columns and beams are with thickness 40mm to prevent local

deformations in the column or beam elements. Horizontal stiffeners for end-plate are

with thickness equals to 75% of end-plate thickness.

 - Distance between bolt rows (p) is taken four times the bolt diameter, while the edge

distance (e) is taken two times the bolt diameter.

(a) Model Overview (b) Connection dimensions

Fig. 8. Overview for the studied parametric model (units: mm) .

The identifier of each FEM was constituted of a sequence number, the bolt diameter,

the beam depth, steel grade, bolt grade and the bolt configuration. For example, M24-750-

S235-G10.9-nostiff represents connection with a bolt diameter of 24 mm, 750 mm beam depth,

steel grade S235, bolt grade 10.9, and with no stiffener configuration. The aim of studying

different parameters is to track the increase in the moment capacity of the connection due to

each parameter.

4. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

4.1. Effect of end-plate thickness to bolt diameter ratio

Fig. 9 presents the relation between end-plate thickness and connection moment

capacity for extended and flushed connection with a constant 600 mm beam depth, steel grade

S235, bolt grade 10.9 and with no stiffener configuration. Six curves are plotted representing

the six bolt diameters used throughout this study. From these curves, it is noticed that this

relation is divided into two parts; first part represents the end-plate failure mode while the
second part represents the bolt rupture failure mode. End-plate failure happens at relatively

small end-plate thicknesses with an obvious increase in the moment resistance. With the

increase in end-plate thickness, bolt rupture occurs with a slight increase in the moment

resistance.

Fig. 9. Connection moment capacity - End-plate thickness curve.

As it can be noticed from Fig. 9 that the transition from the end-plate failure to the bolt

rupture occurs at different end-plate thicknesses for each bolt diameter. However, when the

results in Fig. 9 were replotted with the abscissa taken as the ratio of (tep/d), the transition in

the failure mode was noticed at constant (tep/d). A graph is plotted between ultimate moment

resistance of the connection and the ratio between end-plate thickness to bolt diameter (tep/d),

as shown in Fig. 10. The results show that the curve for each bolt diameter consists of two

zones as previously mentioned. The transition between two failure modes for all results found

to be around (tep/d) equals to 1.3 for extended connections while 2.0 for flushed connections.
 Fig. 10. Effect of bolt diameter to end-plate thickness ratio on the connection moment

resistance [for S235, G10.9, beam depth 600mm & configuration (1)].

4.2. Effect of beam depth

Different bolt diameters (M16, M20, M24 and M27) with a constant steel grade S235,

bolt grade 10.9, and with no stiffener configuration have been used to study the effect of using

different beam depth (750 and 900mm) on the moment resistance of the connection. To track

the relationship between the increase of beam depth and the connection capacity, a graph is

plotted between ultimate moment resistance to depth of the connection on y-axis (M/d) and

ratio between end-plate thickness to bolt diameter (tep/d) on x-axis, as shown in Fig. 11. The

results showed that curves of different beam depths coincide on each other for each diameter.

This indicates that the effect of increasing the depth is linear with the capacity of the

connection.
 Fig. 11. Effect of beam depth on the connection moment resistance to depth ratio [for S235,

G10.9 & configuration (1)].

4.3. Effect of steel grade

Two steel grades (S235 and S355) with a bolt grade 10.9 and with no stiffener

configuration are studied. S235 has a yield stress equals to 235 MPa and an ultimate stress 355

MPa, while S355 has a yield stress equals to 355 MPa and an ultimate stress of 510 MPa. As

illustrated in Fig. 12, steel grade has a noticeable effect at the end-plate rupture zone, while no

increase is noted when the failure mode is bolt rupture. Since, the end-plate rupture zone

depends on the strength of the plate, any increase in the yielding and ultimate stress leads to an

increase in the moment capacity of the connection. The point of transition between the two

zones is slightly shifted backwards relative to that having a steel grade of S235 by a value of

around 1.2 (tep/d) (for extended connections) and by a value of 1.8 (tep/d) (for flushed

connections) compared to S355.

 Fig. 12. Effect of steel grade on the connection moment resistance [for G10.9 & configuration (1)].

4.4. Effect of bolt grade

The influence of the bolt grade on the behavior of the connection is studied in this

section with a constant beam depth of 750mm, steel grade of S235 and with no stiffener

configuration. Bolt grades 8.80 and 10.9 are studied with an ultimate tensile stress of 785 MPa

(8 t/cm2) and 980 MPa (10 t/cm2); respectively and yield stress equals to 630 MPa (6.4 t/cm2)

and 880 MPa (9.0 t/cm2); respectively. The study is performed for three different bolt diameters

as shown in Fig. 13. From this figure, it is noticed that G10.9 enhances the moment resistance

slightly compared to G8.8 at the end-plate rupture failure zone, while, in the bolt rupture failure

zone the moment resistance of G10.9 is about 25% higher than that of G8.8. This ratio is the

same ratio between the tensile strength of both grades. Since, in this zone the failure depends

mainly on the bolt strength which increased.

 Fig. 13. Effect of bolt grade on the connection moment resistance [for beam depth 750mm,

S235 & configuration (1)].

4.5. Effect of bolt arrangement

Failure mode plays an important role in bolt arrangements. As it is obvious in Fig. 14,

Two configurations are studied with two different bolt diameter M16 and M22. The curve

showed that the bolts far from the tension flange (corner second row) hasn’t any contribution

when specimen failed by end-plate rupture. On the other hand, it has significant effect on the

behavior of the connection in bolt rupture zone.

Fig. 14. Effect of bolt arrangement on the connection moment resistance [for beam depth 900,

G10.9 & S235].

4.6. Effect of adding horizontal stiffeners

4.6.1. Flushed configurations

To increase the moment resistance of the connection and redistribute the force among

bolts, a horizontal stiffener is used. Fig. 15 illustrates the dimensions of the horizontal stiffener

used.

Fig. 15. Dimensions of the additional horizontal stiffener configuration.

As shown in Fig. 17, three curves are plotted representing specimens before and after

adding the horizontal stiffeners between the second and third bolts rows for M22 and M24 with

a constant beam depth of 600 mm, steel grade of S235 and bolt grade G10.9. As concluded in

Section 4.1, the relationship between the moment resistance of the connection and the (tep/d)

ratio is divided into two parts; first part represents the end-plate failure mode while the second

part represents the bolt rupture failure mode. It is evident from Fig. 17 that adding one

horizontal stiffener has a great effect on moment resistance at low (tep/d) ratios with the

enhancement of the moment resistance of the connection by about 65% more than that of

unstiffened connections. This enhancement gradually decreases with increasing the (tep/d)

ratios until almost no enhancement is noticed. No enhancement in the moment resistance of

the connection is noticed at larger (tep/d) ratios as the failure becomes due to bolt rupture.
 On the other hand, adding two horizontal stiffeners resulted in 90% enhancement of

moment resistance compared to the unstiffened connection and 25% enhancement compared

to the one-horizontally-stiffened connection. This indicates that this horizontal stiffener

enhances the bolt force distribution, which consequently affects the moment resistance of the

connection. This enhancement gradually decreases with increasing (tep/d) ratios until the

specimen share pure bolt-rupture failure mode. This can be explained as in bolt rupture zone

the end-plate has enough stiffness to redistribute the force among the bolts.

Fig. 16. Connection moment capacity – (End-plate thickness/bolt diameter) for bolt diameter

M20 and M24 (Flushed connections).

4.6.2. Extended configurations

As illustrated in Fig. 17, three curves are plotted representing specimens before and

after adding horizontal stiffeners between the second and third bolts rows for M22 and M24 to

study also the effect of adding horizontal stiffeners on the moment resistance of the connection.

It is evident from Fig. 17 that adding one horizontal stiffener affects the moment resistance at

low (tep/d) ratios with an enhancement of about 28% of that of the unstiffened connection.

This enhancement slightly decreases with increasing (tep/d) ratios until no enhancement is

noted. No enhancement in the moment resistance of connection is noted at larger (tep/d) ratios
as the failure is due to bolt rupture. On the other hand, adding two horizontal stiffeners does

not result in further enhancement in moment resistance of the connection. This can be attributed

to the location of the second stiffener which is away from the group of bolts around the tension

flange.

Fig. 17. Connection moment capacity – (End-plate thickness/bolt diameter) for bolt diameter

M22 and M24 (Extended connections).

4.6.3. Effect of Different Beam Depths

Moreover, to track the same behavior for the configurations with stiffeners, flushed

connection with configuration (2) is studied with different beam depths (750 and 900 mm). As

noticed in this Fig. 18, the increase in moment resistance of connection of the bigger beam

depth is almost 21% of that of the smaller beam depth for the three bolt diameters. This

indicates that the effect of increasing the depth is linear with capacity of the connection as well

as in the configurations without stiffeners.

 Fig. 18. Effect of beam depth using different configurations on the connection moment

resistance [for S235, G10.9 & configuration (1&2)].

4.7. Flushed and Extended connection

Overall, it is recommended to use the extended configuration more than the flushed

configurations due to the great difference in the moment resistance of the same end-plate

thickness, bolt diameter and beam depth. As it is obvious in Fig. 19, for M16 and M27 the

extended connection can carry more moment than flushed connection by 33% and 45%;

respectively.

Fig. 19. Effect of extended and flushed configurations on the connection moment capacity.
5. SIMPLIFIED DESIGN METHOD

The formulation of a simplified design equations requires to consider all the parameters

affecting the behavior to keep the proposed equations reliable and simple. In this study, based

on the parametric study, a simplified design method is proposed for extended and flushed

configurations. A set of equations are proposed to be used in predicting the ultimate moment

resistance of each connection configuration taking into consideration all the affecting variables.

These factors are the bolt grade, bolt diameter, end-plate thickness, beam depth and the

presence of horizontal stiffeners.

As observed from the studied charts, the curve representing the relation between the

ratio of end-plate thickness to bolt diameter and the moment resistance of the connection is

divided into two parts; the first part is due to the end-plate rupture while the second part

represents the bolt rupture with a transition limit between the two zones. It was found that this

limit is almost 2.0 for flushed configurations in case of S235 steel grades while it is 1.8 for

S355 and 1.3 for extended configurations in case of S235 steel grades while it is 1.2 for S355.

The aim of this parametric study is to get an equivalent number of bolts (Neq) around

the tension flange to predict the moment resistance of the connection which is defined from the

following Equation (1):

𝑀𝑅 = 𝑁𝑒𝑞 ∗ 𝐴𝑠𝑏 ∗ 𝐹𝑢𝑏 ∗ 𝑑𝑏 (1)

where;

MR is the connection moment resistance in N.mm units.

Neq is the imaginary equivalent number of tension bolts in connection assuming that the

bolts are equally loaded with maximum tensile load (Neq ≤ 8.5 for flushed configurations and

Neq ≤ 10.5 for extended configurations).

 Asb is the bolt area at threaded part in mm2 units.

Fub is the ultimate tensile strength of bolts grade 10.9 in N/mm2 units which equals to

980 N/mm2.

db is the beam full depth in mm units.

Neq is plotted against the ratio (tep/d) for extended and flushed connections in Fig. 20.

This figure is plotted for standard case of connection with no stiffeners configuration, bolt

grade 10.9 and S235. The following equations can be used to estimate Neq

Fig. 20. General chart used for deriving Neq factor equations.

In order to generalize Equation (1), other factors must be included to predict the

moment resistance of the connection such as the steel grade factor (∝Fy), bolt grade (∝bolt) and

horizontal stiffeners factor (∝stiff). Thus Equation (1) can be generalized as follows:

𝑀𝑅 = 𝑁𝑒𝑞 ∗ 𝐴𝑠𝑏 ∗ [ ∝bolt 𝐹𝑢𝑏 ] ∗ 𝑑𝑏 ∗ ∝Fy ∗ ∝stiff (2)

To estimate reasonable values for these factors, each factor is studied separately to

determine its value on the moment resistance of the connection. The equations are summarized

in Table 4Error! Reference source not found. for extended and flushed connection
configurations. Using this simplified design equation method, the designer can evaluate the MR

for a certain configuration.

Table 4
Proposed design equations for extended and flushed configurations
Extended Configurations Flushed Configurations
𝑀𝑅 = 𝑁𝑒𝑞 ∗ 𝐴𝑠𝑏 ∗ [ ∝bolt 𝐹𝑢𝑏 ] ∗ 𝑑𝑏 ∗ ∝Fy ∗ ∝stiff
𝑡𝑒𝑝 𝑡𝑒𝑝
6.42 ( ) + 1.54 ; 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ( ) ≤ 1 𝑡𝑒𝑝 𝑡𝑒𝑝
𝑑 𝑑
𝑡𝑒𝑝 𝑡𝑒𝑝 5.7 ( ) ≤ 8.5 ; 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ( ) ≤ 1
Neq = Neq = { 𝑑 𝑑
8 + 3.3 [( ) − 1] ; 𝑓𝑜𝑟 1 < ( ) ≤ 1.5 𝑡𝑒𝑝 𝑡𝑒𝑝
𝑑 𝑑 2.8 [( ) − 1] + 5.7 ≤ 8.5 ; 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ( ) > 1
𝑡𝑒𝑝 𝑡𝑒𝑝 𝑑 𝑑
9.65 + 0.8 [( ) − 1.5] ≤ 10.5 ; 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ( ) > 1.5
{ 𝑑 𝑑
𝑡𝑒𝑝 −0.361
0.35 𝑡𝑒𝑝 1.2961 ( ) ≥ 1 ; 𝐶𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟
∝stiff = (1.35 − ∗ [ ]) ≥ 1 ∝stiff = 𝑑
1.35 𝑑 𝑡𝑒𝑝 −0.538
1.4763 ( ) ≥1 ; 𝐶𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟
{ 𝑑
−0.4 8 𝑡𝑒𝑝 0.4 −0.3 6 𝑡𝑒𝑝 0.3
∝Fy = [ (𝐹 ) + ]∗[ ]+[ (𝐹 ) + 0.2] ≥ 1 ∝Fy = [ (𝐹 ) + ]∗[ ]+[ (𝐹 ) + 0.4] ≥ 1
180 𝑦 15 𝑑 120 𝑦 300 𝑦 25 𝑑 120 𝑦
2 𝑡𝑒𝑝 1 𝑡𝑒𝑝
(1 − ∗ [ ]) ≥ 0.8 ; 𝑓𝑜𝑟 G8.8 (1 − ∗ [ ]) ≥ 0.8 ; 𝑓𝑜𝑟 G8.8
∝𝒃𝒐𝒍𝒕 = { 15 𝑑 ∝𝒃𝒐𝒍𝒕 = { 10 𝑑
1 ; 𝑓𝑜𝑟 G10.9 1 ; 𝑓𝑜𝑟 G10.9

5.1. VALIDATION OF DESIGN EQUATIONS

To verify the above proposed equations in predicting the moment resistance, the FEMs

analyzed by reference [12] are used to compare their FEM results with the simplified design

equations. The studied configuration is shown in Fig. 21 using the FEM analysis and

dimensions are shown in Table 5. The connection is different from the studied configuration,

simply the corner bolt in the 3rd row is removed. As mentioned above in Section 4.5 , these

corner bolts have no effect on the moment resistance if the specimen experiences an end-plate

failure. The selected end-plate thickness and bolt diameter showed that all analyzed specimens

are subjected to end-plate failure (having [tep/d] < 1.3), which means that the above proposed

equations can be applied on these configurations. The results obtained from the proposed

equations are summarized in

 Table 6. The ratio between the moment capacity calculated due to design equations

method to the moment of the Shi FEMs were between 0.95 to 1.00, indicating that the proposed

method could predict the connection moment capacity.

Fig. 21. Studied Configuration by reference [12] using F.E.M analysis.

Table 5
Configurations details of end-plate connections studied by [12].
Steel Moment
End-plate Bolt Beam
plate Bolt Stiffener connection
Specimen thickness diameter depth
Fy grade configurations capacity
(mm) (mm) (mm)
(N/mm2) (kN.m)
SJA16I 16 M24 950 345 G10.9 No stiffener 2455
SJA24I 24 M24 950 345 G10.9 No stiffener 2987
SJA30I 30 M24 950 345 G10.9 No stiffener 3131

Table 6
Comparison between proposed design equations and FEM specimens.
Bolt effective Beam depth Moment Design eq.
Specimen (tep/d) Neq ∝Fy
area (cm2) (m) resistance / G.Shi
 using FEM
Design eq. results
(kN.m)
SJA16I 16/24=0.667 3.53 0.95 5.82 1.1944 2331 0.95
SJA24I 24/24=1.0 3.53 0.95 8.00 1.1167 2996 1.00
SJA30I 30/24=1.25 3.53 0.95 8.82 1.0583 3132 1.00

5.2. RECOMMENDED CONFIGURATIONS

In order to get better performance of ultra-large moment connection, the following

recommended configurations could be used.

For extended configurations.

For specimens with end-plate (tep/d < 1.3), it is recommended to add one horizontal

stiffener and increase the steel grade of end-plate to enhance the moment resistance. Moreover,

the corner bolts in the 3rd row can be removed since they have no effect in this case.

For specimens with bolt rupture failure (tep/d > 1.3). Increasing the bolt grade affects

the resistance of the connection. On the other hand, adding any horizontal stiffener or

increasing the steel grade has no extra benefit to the connection.

For flushed configurations.

Almost all specimens in this configuration are governed by end-plate rupture. In this

case, it is recommended to add two horizontal stiffeners, increase the steel grade and bolt grade

to achieve a higher moment resistance.

Finally, to get the better economic performance for a certain connection, the most

valuable parameters are the end-plate thickness and the bolt diameter to be used.

For extended configurations,

Case of using S235,
tep = 1.3 d
Case of using S355,
tep = 1.2 d
 For flushed configurations,
Case of using S235,
tep = 2.0 d
Case of using S355,
tep = 1.8 d

6. CONCULSIONS

Based on the analysis of the FEM models of ultra-large capacity end-plate connections.

Around 400 models were analyzed with different studied parameters and configurations, the

performance of such type of connections was analyzed to propose a simplified design method

to determine the moment capacity of the connection. From this analysis, the following

conclusions could be drawn:

(1) The relation between the end-plate thickness to bolt diameter ratio (tep/d)

and the connection moment capacity is divided into two zones; the first zone

represents the end-plate rupture with a nearly linear relation while the

second zone represents the bolt rupture and this zone is nearly horizontal. In

case of extended configurations, the interface between the two zones is at

tep/d = 1.3 while flushed configurations tends to be at 2 and rarely fails by

bolt rupture.

(2) Increasing the beam depth, linearly increases the moment resistance of the

connection with the same ratio.

(3) Steel grade has great effect on connection moment capacity for specimens

that have end-plate failure while it has no effect for specimens that have bolt

rupture.

(4) Bolt grade affects the moment capacity of the connection especially in the

specimens experiencing bolt rupture failure, while for end-plate rupture

specimens, the bolt grade has no extra benefit in this zone.

 (5) Corner bolts in 3rd row in extended configurations showed that it has no

effect on moment capacity in case of (tep/d) is smaller than 1.30, while for

larger (tep/d) ratio, corner bolts enhance the moment capacity of the

connection

(6) Adding one horizontal stiffener enhances the moment capacity especially

for specimens failing by end-plate rupture. While it has no effect when the

failure mode is bolt rupture.

(7) Adding two horizontal stiffeners has no extra benefit to the overall moment

capacity of the connection for extended configurations. While for flushed

configurations, it enhances the moment capacity with significant effect due

to bolts arrangement under the tension flange.

(8) Overall extended configurations are preferable, since they can resist more

moment capacity than flushed configurations reaching 32% difference for

the same parameters (end-plate thickness and bolt diameter).

(9) A simplified design method is introduced. It is found that the equivalent

number of bolts for the 12 bolts ranges from 5 to 8.5 bolts depending on the

(tep/d) ratio (case of flushed configurations) and ranges from 6.5 to 10.5

bolts (case for extended configurations).

Notations

The following symbols are used in this paper:

tep end-plate thickness (mm)

d bolt diameter (mm)
db beam full depth (m)
Asb bolt effective area (mm2)
ts horizontal stiffener thickness (mm)
∝stiff modification factor for using stiffeners configurations
∝Fy modification factor for steel grade
∝bolt modification factor for bolt grade
 Neq equivalent number of bolts
Fy Yield strength (N/mm2)
Fub Bolt tensile strength (N/mm2)
MR Connection moment resistance (N.mm)

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