On the assessment of semi-rigid double-angle steel connections and parametric analyses on their initial stiffness using FEM

In this paper, the semi-rigid connections such as Double-angle Web (DW) connections, which are welded to the beam web and bolted to the column flange, are investigated. This study tries to establish the effect of clearance setback between beam end and column flange and/or web. When the beam rotates, it is desirable to avoid the bottom flange of the beam bearing against the column as this can induce large forces in the connection. The usual way of achieving this, is to ensure that the connection extends at least a few millimeters beyond the end of the beam. For this purpose, several connections are designed and considered, based on two different shear capacities for the beam. For each connection, two different bolt gage distances and three values for clearance setback are analyzed. Analyses are performed to establish the moment–rotation relationship for this type of connection and the stress distribution of each specimen is observed. In this study, connections are subjected to shear loads. Material and geometric non-linearities, as well as contact and friction have also been implemented in the model. The model is validated through comparison with experimental data, found in the literature.