Stiffness of reverse channel connections at room and elevated temperatures

Sammanfattning: A frame structure exposed to fire undergoes two types of changes due to the resulting temperature fields. The first is the thermal expansion of the structural members and the second is the degradation of the material strength and stiffness as temperature rises. Initially the thermal expansion dominates the response and the structural member (beam) is exposed to compressive forces due to restrained expansion, thus precipitating flexural buckling. At higher temperatures the mechanical material properties degrade. This fact, together with the high compressive forces in the bottom flanges of the beam often results in local buckling, followed by the formation of a plastic hinge close to the support region. The combination of transverse loads and the rising temperature leads to the development of excessive deflections in the beam. When temperature rises enough for the bending resistance of the beam to become insufficient, catenary action is introduced. The result is that the beam transitions to a stage where tensile forces appear due to the catenary action. In these different stages of the response of the structure the beam-to-column connection plays a crucial role and its robustness will determine if the structure will be able to maintain its integrity.The robustness of a structure in a fire situation greatly depends on the rotational capacity of the connection region. High rotational capacity is required at elevated temperatures since the steel beams lose their bending stiffness and exhibit increasingly large deflections under constant load. Beam deflections result in increasing rotations at the supports and may lead to collapse due to connection failure. Other possible failure modes may occur in the structural members, for example due to yielding in tension of the beam. The reverse channel has been proposed as a practical alternative to assemble beams to tubular columns. In a simple implementation, the bending moment generated in the joint due to rotation of the beam may be neglected; however, research efforts are being attempted to quantify the level of constraint. The typical arrangement of the connection type consists of a reverse channel with its flanges welded onto the face of concrete-filled tubular columns and the web bolted to the endplate of a beam. Thicknesses and depths of the reverse channel determine the level of rotational restraint at high temperature. The reverse channel has the ability to undergo catenary deformation in the tensile zone due to the applied rotation at the support and similarly it is relatively ductile in the compression zone. Overall, the reverse channel connection response is rather ductile in terms of its ability to undergo large rotational deformation as long as bolt failure is avoided through proper design.Various tests have been performed to study the behaviour of this type of connection such as full scale buildings, sub-frames, isolated joints and individual sections. The aim of these tests was to capture the connection behaviour in relation to other structural components in fire. This thesis focuses on the tests carried out on the connection components and their finite element modelling. A comprehensive parametric study was performed to assess the influence of different parameters on the behaviour of the connection component at elevated temperatures. The results from the finite element analyses have been utilized to validate analytical models that describe the behaviour of this type of connection at ambient and elevated temperature. Insight into the analytical models provides proper background to a structural designer to estimate the initial stiffness and understand the behaviour of the reverse channel in the connection.