Influence of end plate splices on the load carrying capacity of columns

A column splice is part of the column and therefore must be designed for second order bending moments and shear forces in addition to the axial force. In this paper strength and stiffness requirements for column splices are derived on the basis of column stability considerations. A strength requirement for the column splice is suggested based on an imperfect column. A stiffness requirement is suggested by allowing a 5% reduction in the Euler buckling load of the column. In order to test the suggested design requirements for column splices, full scale experimental tests on spliced columns were carried out. Three different column splices were investigated. Columns without splices were tested for reference purposes. All tests were performed three times. It has been found that splices can have a negative influence on the load carrying capacity of slender columns.