Behaviour of bolted composite joints: experimental study

Abstract In this paper, an experimental program on bolted end-plate type column-base joints is reported. Composite base columns are investigated under cyclic loading to study and characterise the typical cyclic behaviour modes of these types of joints. Details of the specimens, test results and the evaluated experimental data of the tests are presented. The tests also had a scope of investigating the influence of several parameters (the application of different bolt grades, the thickness of the end-plate, the type of the column and the influence of the reinforcement). The cyclic behaviour of the joints is studied by the moment–rotation relationships, where cyclic curves are used to evaluate the cyclic parameters of each specimen. On the basis of the evaluation of the measured data and the calculation of the cyclic characteristics, the typical cyclic behaviour modes of the studied connection type are determined and presented.