Experimental and numerical analysis of T-stub steel component under static loading

Beam-to-column connections are of great importance in steel frames. For the tension zone of a steel joints, the estimated ultimate bearing capacity is of greatest interest. In recent years, there has been an increased interest among steel structure specialists in large deformation characteristics of T-stub to evaluate the bearing capacity of bolted joints. In Ukrainian normative documents, in comparison with European ones, there is no information about the ultimate bearing capacity of beam-to-column connections. For numerical and experimental studies, equivalent reference T-stub were used, and all characteristics of the steel used were taken into account in the mechanical model of the part. At the second stage of this research, 48 numerical models of the T-stub were calculated. The effect of variation in model characteristics such as bolt diameter, distance from web plate to bolt centerline on the bearing capacity of the models was investigated. Numerical experiments were carried out using ANSYS Workbench. The proposed models take into account the nonlinear behavior of the model material and the nonlinear interactions between its different parts. The proposed finite element model was further calibrated using the test results obtained with the laboratory program. Some important aspects of the numerical study of the problem, namely strain hardening and contact phenomena, are included in this paper. In addition, verification of the codified damage mechanism has been carried out.