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PARAMETRIC STUDY OF COLD FORMED STEEL JOINTS USING THE

COMPONENT METHOD

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PARAMETRIC STUDY OF COLD FORMED STEEL JOINTS USING
THE COMPONENT METHOD
Zs. Nagy & A. Dező
Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Engineering Structures Department, Romania

A. A. Mureșan
Gordias SRL, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

ABSTRACT: In previous studies, two types of joints formed by back-to-back cold-formed C profiles as beam
and SHS profile as column were investigated experimentally by subjecting them to monotonic and cyclic
loads. Using the experimental data, the Finite Element (FE) models of the proposed joint configurations were
calibrated. The two joint typology performance was then evaluated analytically with the component method
following EN 1993-1-8 assisted by the calibrated FE models. The paper presents a parametric study of the
joint’s performance using component method with the purpose to assess its mechanical behavior for different
thicknesses and materials of the cold-formed C profiles.

1 INTRODUCTION lag and bearing deformations around bolt holes. The

studies of Lim & Nethercot (2004), Yu et al (2005)
The cold-formed structural elements are widely and Ho & Chung (2006) showed that in case of usual
used in civil engineering due to several advantages cold-formed steel sections, the bearing work of bolts
such as light weight, high material strength, econom- associated with elastic-plastic elongation of bolt
ical manufacture, short erecting time and good holes is the most important component which con-
strength-to-weight ratio. Thus, in the past years there trols the stiffness and the bearing capacity of such
has been an increased interest in researching the be- type of joints, as observed from experimental results
havior of cold-formed profiles as load bearing struc- and numerical simulations. The flanges in ten-
tural elements. The past studies focused on the buck- sion/compression due to bending and the web in
ling behavior of cold-formed structural elements and shear due to transverse loading have a significantly
on the mechanical behavior and performance of lower contribution to the joint’s stiffness and bearing
cold-formed steel joints. Lee et al (2014) and Koma- capacity. In case of non-conventional joints, the
ra et al (2017) presented reviews on the current re- identification of the relevant components is difficult.
search of different types of cold-formed steel joints Therefore, Finite Element Analysis (FEA) based on
and their performance. Nagy et al (2006), Lim & calibrated models may be an alternative to develop
Nethercot (2004), Chung & Lau (1999) and Öztürk analytical solutions with the component method, de-
& Pul (2015) demonstrated that bolted joints in cold- scribed in Eurocode 3 (EN 1993-1-8), even though
formed steel portal frames have, in most of the cases, the cold-formed steel joints are not covered by it.
semi-rigid behavior. Lim & Nethercot (2003) and The following paper presents a parametric study
Wong & Chung (2002) also showed that semi-rigid on two types of beam-to-column joints consisting in
bolted joints are partially resistant. back-to-back cold-formed C profiles for beams and
Besides the bearing effect (i.e. bolt hole elonga- SHS-sections for columns using component method.
tion), an important contribution to the global flexi- The analyzed configurations are Diaphragm Connec-
bility of the joints is the deformation induced by the tion for Beam to Column joint (DCBC) and Hollo
local buckling or distortion of the thin-walled pro- Bolts for Beam to Column joint (HBBC). The pur-
files. The premature local buckling of the cold- pose of the study is to assess the mechanical behav-
formed profile can cause the failure of the joint itself ior of the proposed joint configurations in case of
well below the expected load bearing capacity if the different thicknesses and materials of the cold-
joint is unwisely configured. Dundu & Kemp (2006) formed C profiles.
observed that in case of back-to-back bolted connec- The back-to-back C profiles beams to SHS col-
tions, when the bolts are installed only on the web of umn joints were initially studied experimentally by
the cold-formed steel sections, the local buckling be- Nagy et al. (2017) where the joints were tested under
comes more critical from stress concentrations, shear monotonic and cyclic loading. Then Nagy et al.
(2018a) investigated the proposed beam-to-column upper and lower flanges of the C-profiles. The stiff-
joint with Finite Element Method (FEM) and the eners have the thickness 8 mm. Each T-stub is fixed
models were calibrated with the experimental data to the column by four M20 hollo bolts, to the beam’s
previously determined. Finally, the component flange by four M20 10.9 grade bolts and to the
method was applied in Nagy et al. (2018b) for the beam’s web by one M20 10.9 grade bolt.
analytical evaluation of the proposed joint configura-
tion’s performance. In case of joints with cold-
formed elements, component method was applied
assisted by FEA where the identification of compo-
nents was performed with calibrated models.

2 THE CONFIGURATION OF THE BEAM-TO-

COLUMN JOINT

In the following study, two joint configurations

went through a parametric study using the compo-
nent method described in Eurocode 3 (EN 1998-1-
8). The joint configurations were as follows: (i) Dia-
phragm Connection for Beam to Column joint Figure 2. The Hollo Bolts for Beam to Column Joint (HBBC).
(DCBC) and (ii) Hollo Bolts for Beam to Column
joint (HBBC). The following paragraphs describe
the two joint configurations. 3 THE COMPONENT METHOD

The component method is a general design meth-

2.1 Diaphragm Connection for Beam to Column od for joints in steel structures and is implemented in
Joint (DCBC) Eurocode 3, part 1-8 (EN 1993-1-8). The method
The DCBC joint (see Figure 1) consists in two cold- consists in the representation of the joint by a certain
formed C-section profiles having the size C 300/3 number of components and the evaluation of the
and a column having the cross section SHS force-displacement relationship of each component.
200/12,5. The two members are connected by two The components which partially represent the joint
welded flange diaphragms having the thickness 10 behavior due to a single action are assembled ac-
mm, thus the name “diaphragm connection”. Each cording to the distribution of the internal forces
diaphragm is fixed to the beam’s flange by four M20 within the joint.
10.9 grade bolts. The component method consists in the following
steps (Jaspart, 2000): (i) the identification of the ac-
tive components of the joint, (ii) the evaluation of
the mechanical properties of individual components
(i.e. bearing capacity and stiffness) and (iii) the as-
sembly of the components for the evaluation of the
bearing capacity and stiffness of the whole joint.
The component method was applied to the DCBC
and HBBC joints in previous studies (Nagy et al,
2006, 2018b). In the case of cold-formed connec-
tions, the identification of the active components
was based on experimental studies (Nagy et al,
2017) and on calibrated FEM models (Nagy et al,
2018a).
For the DCBC configuration, the following active
Figure 1. The Diaphragm Connection for Beam to Column components for the determination of the bearing ca-
Joint (DCBC). pacity of the joint were identified, according to Nagy
et al (2018a): (i) bracket in tension/compression, (ii)
bracket in bearing (i.e. bolt hole elongation), (iii)
2.2 Hollo Bolts for Beam to Column Joint (HBBC) bolts in shear, (iv) cold-formed C profiles in bearing
The HBBC joint (see Figure 2) also consists in and (v) cold-formed C profiles in ten-
two cold-formed C300/3 profiles and a column with sion/compression. The active components used to
the cross section SHS 200/12.5. Unlike the previous determine the stiffness of the joint in case of DCBC
joint configuration, the HBBC has two T-stubs with configuration are: (i) bolts in shear, (ii) bolts in bear-
the thickness 10 mm with stiffeners placed at the
ing on the cold-formed C profile, (iii) bolts in bear- sistant moment MC,Rd and the initial rotational stiff-
ing on the bracket and (iv) lower bracket in bending. ness Sj,ini of the two proposed joint configurations
were determined. The parametric study consisted in
two steps: (i) in the first step, the thickness and the
steel grade of the C profiles were modified and (ii)
in the second step, the thickness and the steel grade
of the C profiles and the diameter and the steel grade
of the bolts were modified. The rest of the compo-
nents remained unchanged.
The thickness of the C profiles ranged between
1.5 mm and 3 mm. The chosen steel grades were, ac-
cording to EN 10326 (2004): S 220 GD, S 250 GD,
S 280 GD, S 320 GD and S 350 GD. The diameter
of the bolts was as follows: M12 (i.e. 12 mm), M16
(i.e. 16 mm), M18 (i.e. 18 mm) and M20 (i.e. 20
mm). The steel grades of the bolts ranged between
4.6 and 10.9 according to EN 1993-1-8 (2003), Sec-
tion 3.1.1., Table 3.1.
Figure 3. The active components of the DCBC joint (Nagy et The following paragraphs present the results of
al, 2018b).
the parametric study for each type of joint.
After the parametric study, the design moment re-
In case of HBBC joint, some of the identified ac- sistance MC,Rd and the initial rotational stiffness Sj,ini
tive components were similar to the DCBC joint and determined from component method with mechani-
the other part consisted in components specific to the cal properties from experimental data and the design
HBBC. The identified active components specific to moment resistance MC,Rd and the initial rotational
HBBC configuration used to evaluate the joint’s stiffness Sj,ini determined with mechanical properties
bearing capacity are, according to Nagy et al from Eurocode 3 were compared for each type of
(2018a): (i) SHS column web in shear, (ii) SHS col- joint. The mechanical properties of the beam from
umn flange in bending, (iii) hollo bolt in tension and the experimental data were as follows: the yielding
(iv) bracket in tension/compression. The active stress was fy=507 N/mm2 and the ultimate stress was
components specific to HBBC configuration for the fu=577 N/mm2. These values were determined from
evaluation of the joint’s stiffness are: (i) hollo bolt in coupon tests performed on the sample. The diameter
tension, (ii) SHS column in transverse compression of the bolts used in the experiment was M20, while
and tension (i.e. chord face failure), (iii) hollo bolt in their steel grade was 10.9 according to EN 1993-1-8,
shear, (iv) hollo bolt in bearing on the SHS column namely the yielding stress of the bolts was fyb=900
and (v) hollo bolt in bearing on the bracket. N/mm2 and the ultimate stress of the bolts was
fub=1000 N/mm2. The initial rotational stiffness re-
sulted from the component method with experi-
mental data is: (i) for the DCBC joint is
Sj,ini=2279.77 kNm/rad and (ii) for the HBBC joint is
Sj,ini=2127.02 kNm/rad. The moment resistance is, in
both cases, MC,Rd=120.87 kNm, because according to
Nagy et al (2018b), failure occurs in the back-to-
back C profile beam.
The differences between the results are also pre-
sented in the following paragraphs.

4.1 Parametric study of the DCBC joint

Figure 5 presents the initial rotational stiffness
Figure 4. The active components of the HBBC joint (Nagy et
Sj,ini and Figure 6 presents the design moment re-
al, 2018b). sistance MC,Rd of the DCBC joint depending on the C
profile’s thickness and on the steel’s yielding
strength fy. According to Figure 5 and Figure 6, as
4 THE PARAMETRIC STUDY the thickness of the C profile and the yielding
strength fy increase, the initial rotational stiffness
The parametric study was performed with the Sj,ini and the design moment resistance MC,Rd also
component method for the DCBC and the HBBC increase.
joints. In the component method analysis, the re-
 Figure 7. The initial rotational stiffness Sj,ini of the DCBC joint
Figure 5. The initial rotational stiffness Sj,ini of the DCBC joint depending on the bolt’s diameter and steel grade.
depending on the C profile’s thickness and on the steel’s yield-
ing strength fy.

Figure 8. The design moment resistance MC,Rd of the DCBC

joint depending on the bolt’s diameter and steel grade.
Figure 6. The design moment resistance MC,Rd of the DCBC
joint depending on the C profile’s thickness and on the steel’s The results of the component method when the C
yielding strength fy. profile was 3 mm thick, having S 350 GD steel grade
and M20 10.9 grade bolts was evaluated, yielding an
In Figure 7 is presented the initial rotational stiff- initial rotational stiffness of Sj,ini= 2062.02 kNm/rad,
ness Sj,ini, while Figure 8 shows the design moment and a design moment resistance of MC,Rd=83.44
resistance MC,Rd of the DCBC joint depending on the kNm. By comparing these results to the ones using
bolt’s diameter and steel grade, if the C profile’s the experimental data, we observed a difference of
steel grade is S 350 GD (i.e. the yielding strength 9.55% between the initial rotational stiffness values,
fy=350 N/mm2 and the ultimate strength fu=420 and 30.97 % between the design moment resistances.
N/mm2) and the thickness of the profile is t=3 mm.
In Figure 7 and Figure 8 one can observe that as the
diameter and steel grade of the bolt increase, the ini- 4.2 Parametric study of the HBBC joint
tial rotational stiffness and the design moment re- Figure 9 presents the initial rotational stiffness Sj,ini
sistance also increase. However, in Figure 8 the de- and Figure 10 presents the design moment resistance
sign moment resistance has constant values for the MC,Rd of the HBBC joint depending on the C pro-
M20 bolt regardless of the steel grade used, also file’s thickness and on the steel’s yielding strength fy.
showing that the failure of the joint occurs in the Similarly with the previous case, in Figure 9 and
cold-formed profile beam. In case of the M12 bolts, Figure 10 one can observe that as the thickness of
according to Figure 8, the failure of the joint occurs the C profile and the yielding strength fy increase, the
in the bolts regardless of their steel grade. For the initial rotational stiffness Sj,ini and the design mo-
M16 and M18 bolts, starting from the bolt grade 4.6 ment resistance MC,Rd also increase. However, the in-
(i.e. yielding strength fyb=240 N/mm2, ultimate itial rotational stiffness of the HBBC joint has lower
strength fub=400 N/mm2), the failure of the joint oc- values than in the case of DCBC joint, as seen in
curs in the bolts, but as the bolt grade increases, the Figure 11. The holes for hollo bolts drilled in the
failure of the joint occurs in the cold-formed pro- SHS column may contribute to the weakening of the
files. joint’s stiffness.
 design moment resistance also increase. Unlike the
DCBC joint, the initial rotational stiffness of the
HBBC joint has lower values due to the holes drilled
in the SHS column for the hollo bolts, which de-
crease the overall stiffness of the joint. Similar with
Figure 8 (the case of DCBC), in Figure 13 the design
moment resistance is constant for the M20 bolts, re-
gardless of the bolt steel grade meaning that the fail-
ure of the joint is produced by the cold-formed pro-
files. For the M12 bolts, the failure of the joint is
produced by the bolts, regardless of their steel grade.
In the case of M16 and M18 bolts, starting from the
grade 4.6, the failure of the joint occurs in the bolts.
Figure 9. The initial rotational stiffness Sj,ini of the HBBC joint As the bolt grade of M16 and M18 bolts increases,
depending on the C profile’s thickness and on the steel’s yield- the failure of the joint occurs in the cold-formed pro-
ing strength fy. files.

Figure 10. The resistant moment MC,Rd of the HBBC joint de-
pending on the C profile’s thickness and on the steel’s yielding Figure 12. The initial rotational stiffness Sj,ini of the HBBC joint
strength fy. depending on the bolt’s diameter and steel grade.

Figure 11. The differences between the initial rotational stiff-

ness Sj,ini of the DCBC and, respectively of the HBBC for dif-
ferent cold-formed profile thicknesses.

Figure 13. The design moment resistance MC,Rd of the HBBC

Figure 12 presents the initial rotational stiffness
joint depending on the bolt’s diameter and steel grade.
Sj,ini, while Figure 13 shows the design moment re-
sistance MC,Rd of the HBBC joint depending on the
bolt diameter and steel grade, if the C profile’s steel As in the case of DCBC joint, for the comparison
grade is S 350 GD and the thickness is t=3 mm. As with the results determined from component method
in the previous case, in Figure 12 and Figure 13 one with mechanical properties from experimental data,
can remark that as the diameter and steel grade of the the C profile with S 350 GD steel grade and thick-
bolt increase, the initial rotational stiffness and the ness t=3 mm and M20 10.9 grade bolts were used. In
the case of HBBC joint, the initial rotational stiff-
ness is Sj,ini=1946.99 kNm/rad, while the design 6 REFERENCES
moment resistance is MC,Rd=83.44 kNm, same as for
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