Stiffness prediction for bolted moment-connections in cold-formed steel trusses

The purpose of this research was to study the behavior of cold-formed steel cantilever truss structures. A cantilever truss structure and bolt-moment connection were tested and verified by the 3D-finite element model. The verification results showed a good correlation between an experimental test and finite element analysis. An analytical method for elastic rotational stiffness of bolt-moment connection was proposed. The equation proposed in the analytical method was used to approximate the elastic rotational stiffness of the bolt group connection, and was also applied to the Richard-Abbott model for generating the nonlinear moment-rotation curve which modeled the semi-rigid connection stiffness. The 2D-finite element analysis was applied to study the behavior of the truss connection, caused by semi-rigid connection stiffness which caused a change of force to the truss elements. The results showed that the force in the structural members increased by between 13.62%-74.32% of the axial forces, and the bending moment decreased by between 33.05%-100%. These results strongly suggest that the semi-rigid connection between cold-formed steel cantilever truss structures should be considered in structural analysis to achieve optimum design, acknowledging this as the real behavior of the structure.