An Analytical Model for the Initial Stiffness of Bearing Connections with Slotted Holes

Abstract

In steel structures, cover plate joints are mainly used with normal round holes, but slotted holes, where the slot is oriented perpendicular to the direction of the bearing force, make it possible to release displacements in selected directions and thus better control the complex state of stresses in the connected plates. This study investigates the initial stiffness of a cover plate with a single slotted hole. The aim of this paper is to propose an analytical model that predicts the initial stiffness of slotted holes with respect to experimental results obtained on a panel of different geometries. This approach makes it possible to evaluate the effects of the end distances on the bending of the plate compared to the bearing under the bolt. A large panel of geometries is tested to quantify the experimental value of initial stiffness using Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technique compared to Linear Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT) sensors. To evaluate the initial stiffness, a method of processing experimental data is developed that allows a reproducible determination of stiffnesses. An analytical model is then proposed based on the improvement of existing models available in the literature. It is validated for different specimen geometries considering the contribution to the initial stiffness due to bending, shearing and support of the steel plate under the bolt. The comparisons show that the proposed analytical model can predict the initial stiffness of different geometries of tested specimens with slotted holes.