Finite element analysis of stiffness of connection between steel beam and CFT column with stiffener ring plate

The joint of concrete-filled tube(CFT) column with stiffener ring plate is normally regarded as a rigid joint.But in fact there is not any full-rigid connection between beam and column.The stiffness of the connection is between a rigid one and a pinned one.In order to obtain the full and accurate information of the connection's stiffness,this paper mainly use finite-element method with verification of tests to search all factors influencing the connection's stiffness and to study the degree of the influence of the factors.First,the finite element model of the joint was set up in ANSYS,the finite element analysis software.And the accuracy of the model was verified by the results of the tests.Next,based on the verified model,a series of analysis changing every parameters of joint region were done and thereby the key factors influencing the connection's stiffness were decided.Finally by MATLAB,the finite-element data were fitted into the general M—θ formula describing the stiffness of the beam-to-column connection.