Bearing Behavior of Cold-Formed Thick-Walled Steel Plates with Single Bolt

This paper presents the results of an experimental and analytical study on the behavior of cold-formed thick-walled steel plates connected by a single bolt under double shear. Experimental studies were conducted on a total of 54 bolted connections fabricated from two thickness of cold-formed thick-walled steel plates with the nominal thickness of 6 mm and 10 mm. The effects of end distance, edge distance and steel plate thickness were investigated on the bolt bearing behavior. Codes of (modified) ANSI/AISC 360-16 and EN1993-1-8 were applied to predict failure modes and bearing resistance of connections and the predictions were compared with that of measurements. A method was proposed to calculate the elongation of bolt hole at ultimate load. The studies show that fractures occurred on shear planes of specimens failed by shear out due to reduced ductility caused by cold forming process. The modified ANSI/AISC gives the most accurate predictions of failure modes and bearing resistance. However, the bearing resistance will be overestimated if the reduction in area of shear planes caused by occurrence of fracture is ignored for specimens with end distance being higher than 2.0d0 and a reduction factor is needed for calculating bearing resistance of connections. The method proposed in our paper can predict the elongation of bolt hole very well.