Experimental, numerical, and analytical studies of asymmetric bolted square hollow section splices in bending

The flexural behaviour of two types of asymmetric bolted square hollow section (SHS) splices is investigated in this paper. The asymmetric bolted SHS splices are derived from the traditional bolted end plate SHS joints but with the end plate flushed to the SHS surface on one side or two adjacent sides, where a cover plate connects two SHSs. Firstly, four-point bending tests are conducted for two configurations under different loading conditions. Next, finite element (FE) analysis is carried out to simulate the experiments. To reduce the computational time, a simplified FE model is developed, which is further employed for a parametric study. Finally, the component method, which was extended for the asymmetric bolted SHS splices under tensile load, is verified against the FE models in the parametric study. The results show that the extended component method could effectively predict the stiffness and the resistance of bolted asymmetric SHS splices under different bending loads.