Prediction of Ultimate Behaviors in Cold-formed Steel Bolted Connection by the Introduction of Initial Geometric Imperfection in FE Modeling

Experimental research and nonlinear finite element analysis for the structural behaviors of single shear test on bolted connections fabricated with cold-formed stainless steel have been conducted. Failure criteria for prediction of failure mode of bolted connections under static shear and out-of-plane deformation, i.e., curling criteria were proposed based on experimental data for calibration of FE modeling. Failure mode and ultimate strength predicted by recommended FEA procedures with solid element showed a good correspondence with those of previous test results and the validation of FEA method was verified. The previous numerical analyses of bolted connection were carried out on geometrically perfect specimens. However, it has been known that geometric imperfection of thin-walled members must be considered in a FE model to simulate the actual shape of specimen. Therefore, in this paper, parametric studies were carried out based on the validity of numerical modeling of bolted connections in cold-formed stainless steel so that authors investigated the influence of initial geometric imperfection of connected plate on its structural behavior. Solid element and shell element with reduced integration were introduced as an element type and included two types of geometric imperfection. Consequently, FE modeling technique of cold-formed stainless steel bolted connection introducing initial imperfection to compensate the function of shell element and to induce the curling was proposed.