Numerical behaviour of three-dimensional beam-to-column bolted steel joints under weak axis and strong axis loading

Numerical behaviour of three-dimensional beam-to-column bolted steel joints under weak axis and strong axis loading | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Numerical behaviour of three-dimensional beam-to-column bolted steel joints under weak axis and strong axis loading Sara Bachir, Abdelghani Missoum, Zahira Benadla, Abdelhamid Bouchaïr This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6960191/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 03 Dec, 2025 Read the published version in Asian Journal of Civil Engineering → Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Bolted end-plate joints are characterized by a semi-rigid behaviour, ensuring a compromise between stiffness and rotational capacity, while effectively enabling the transfer of bending and shear forces. However, their design becomes significantly more intricate in three-dimensional configurations, where the coupled effects between the strong and weak axes (in- and out-of-plane bending) are only partially captured by conventional analytical approaches, particularly the component-based method proposed by Eurocode 3. This limitation may compromise the reliability of stiffness and strength predictions, thereby justifying the need for advanced numerical methodologies. Within this framework, the present study introduces a series of three-dimensional finite element models in ABAQUS, aiming to simulate the mechanical response of beam-to-column joints with bolted extended end-plates subjected to biaxial loading. These models integrate frictional contact, bolt pre-tensioning, and both material and geometric nonlinearities. The numerical framework was benchmarked against experimental data from the literature. Two typologies were considered: a partial configuration, employed for validation purposes, and a complete configuration, dedicated to an extensive parametric study. The assessment of the extracted moment–rotation curves enabled the identification of the governing mechanical parameters — namely initial rotational stiffness and plastic moment resistance — for each configuration, in order to perform a comparative analysis with the theoretical estimations derived from Eurocode 3. Finite element model component method beam-to-column joint weak axis and strong axis Eurocode3 Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 03 Dec, 2025 Read the published version in Asian Journal of Civil Engineering → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 11 Aug, 2025 Reviews received at journal 09 Aug, 2025 Reviews received at journal 30 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 16 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 16 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 14 Jul, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 14 Jul, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 28 Jun, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 24 Jun, 2025 First submitted to journal 23 Jun, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6960191","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":477784977,"identity":"0a584100-b3cb-49f8-9469-e5027a65fcbb","order_by":0,"name":"Sara Bachir","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABFUlEQVRIie3QsUrEMBjA8S8E0qXdIwf2FXIUvBvkfJWGQm9pXW68Q3MUcmOfwHdwrNtJoC4V18It1aGbcOIi3KAx3Jijjg75bwn5keQDcLn+a0gAMAyoA6B6icVxPx4kmBlC0F+JPkvNaoiEm+fXPapm4cQL+mVQTbkI1+u3dnV5Dd68sxHWzCOKmmT8UHgXu6ChXBBURFmdLsDvrNcwSIEiiWOmCNkFkkZXNZKjXCguaLy1Pqzs8ReSt4Ysfon+y+aQi29NuLARaFOib1GGYE3ONZE4F1tNEqtgbU+mvHka3yuCz+4M4cUoqxMu/d4+sTLF7Ue1DNlLjfbv8sYHrB4/s9WMlycmZrIOBsjJ8y6Xy+Ua6gdT3FdCdaX1OQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Aboubekr Belkaid University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sara","middleName":"","lastName":"Bachir","suffix":""},{"id":477784978,"identity":"c1d0227c-4d08-4020-ad39-acf7f6f86760","order_by":1,"name":"Abdelghani Missoum","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Aboubekr Belkaid University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Abdelghani","middleName":"","lastName":"Missoum","suffix":""},{"id":477784979,"identity":"5c6e85f7-cfe8-48cd-8bf5-d62bfa7ce757","order_by":2,"name":"Zahira Benadla","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Aboubekr Belkaid University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zahira","middleName":"","lastName":"Benadla","suffix":""},{"id":477784980,"identity":"32931f17-0bf8-47fa-999e-68e10adab990","order_by":3,"name":"Abdelhamid Bouchaïr","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Clermont Auvergne University, Clermont Auvergne INP, CNRS, Institut Pascal","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Abdelhamid","middleName":"","lastName":"Bouchaïr","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-06-24 00:08:08","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6960191/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6960191/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s42107-025-01605-3","type":"published","date":"2025-12-04T00:00:00+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":97892140,"identity":"8c2d62a9-1a37-4dbd-bb9f-269c5b47f887","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-10 14:44:20","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1720157,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"article.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6960191/v1_covered_3ac109e8-e6e1-4bf8-baae-91643c2672ea.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Numerical behaviour of three-dimensional beam-to-column bolted steel joints under weak axis and strong axis loading","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"asian-journal-of-civil-engineering","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"Learn more about [Asian Journal of Civil Engineering](https://www.springer.com/journal/42107)","snPcode":"42107","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/42107/3","title":"Asian Journal of Civil Engineering","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Finite element model, component method, beam-to-column joint, weak axis and strong axis, Eurocode3","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6960191/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6960191/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eBolted end-plate joints are characterized by a semi-rigid behaviour, ensuring a compromise between stiffness and rotational capacity, while effectively enabling the transfer of bending and shear forces. 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