Prediction of the initial stiffness of ductile end-plate steel connections

Semi-continuous construction is a recognised basis for design of steel structures. Expensive full-strength and rigid joints are avoided, but the frame analysis needs to take account of the expected connection performance. Wind-moment frames are common examples of semicontinuous construction, for which standard end-plate connections have been developed. These are relatively flexible and therefore have significant influence on sway deflections. This paper presents a method to determine easily the stiffness of such connections when one or two bolt-rows are in tension. This provides a basis for determining the sway of an unbraced frame, or estimating the serviceability of a braced one. The proposed method shows good agreement with tests on the standard connections and on similar forms of Joint.