Effects of Connection Details on the Behavior of Column Base Connection

Fixity of column base connection plays a major role in overall behavior of steel structures. Several parameters influence the real behavior of the column base connections, among them base plate thickness, anchor bolts and stiffeners details can be mentioned. A nonlinear three dimensional finite element method has been utilized for numerical studying of the behavior of the column base connection. Thickness of the base plate and stiffeners and also sizes and numbers of the anchor bolts were changed in a number of models to determine their effects on the nonlinear behavior of the regular column base connection. It was observed that column base connection characteristics such as its moment-rotation behavior, yielding pattern of base plate and anchor bolts and local stress concentration of the connection elements can be significantly affected by changing any detail of the connecting elements. The effects of each parameter on the behavior of column base connection were categorized and presented in this paper.