Bearing Capacity of Bolted Connections in Steel Corrugated Sheets

Seyedsharifi, SeyedehSama; Mehretehran, Alireza Moazezi

doi:10.22065/jsce.2025.503146.3644

Bearing Capacity of Bolted Connections in Steel Corrugated Sheets

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

SeyedehSama Seyedsharifi ¹

Alireza Moazezi Mehretehran ²

¹ M.Sc. Graduate, Civil Engineering Department, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

² Assistant Professor, Structural Engineering Division, Civil Engineering Department, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

10.22065/jsce.2025.503146.3644

Abstract

Corrugated cold-formed steel sheets are widely utilized in the construction of shear walls, culverts, and storage tanks. Due to the geometric differences between these sheets and flat sheets, their bolted connections are expected to exhibit distinct mechanical behavior. However, there is a notable gap in the understanding and prediction of the bearing capacity of these connections, as current design standards do not provide specific equations for this purpose. This study aims to address this gap by assessing the accuracy of existing design equations in standards such as AISI S100 and EC3 for predicting the bearing capacity of bolted connections in corrugated sheets. Furthermore, a new equation is proposed to improve the prediction of bearing capacity. Following the guidelines outlined in AISI S905, 54 numerical models were developed using the Finite Element Method (FEM) implemented in ABAQUS software. The study focuses on key parameters, including bolt diameter, sheet thickness, and steel type. This study proposes a new bearing coefficient for cases where d/t<10, which, unlike the constant value used in EC3 and AISI S100, decreases linearly with the increase in d/t ratio within this range. Additionally, a new parameter, l, is introduced to replace the bolt diameter, representing the curve length of the corrugated sheet in contact with the bolt shank. The results indicate that despite the relatively accurate predictions of the design code equations for application to corrugated sheet specimens, the proposed equation, by considering the linear variations of the d/t parameter, not only improves the accuracy of the results but also achieves better alignment with the numerical outcomes.

Keywords

Bolted Connections

Corrugated Steel Sheets

Cold-Formed Structures

Finite Element Modeling

Design Codes

Subjects

Structural and Earthquake Engineering

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