Behaviour and design of bolted aluminium flange cleats

Abstract

Equivalent T-stubs are traditionally employed to model the structural behaviour of the tension zone of moment resisting connections. The design model for the equivalent T-stub considers only the bending moments acting on the equivalent T-stub without considering the co-existing tensile force acting on the T-stub web. However, for flange cleats in bending, the horizontal cleat leg (i.e. the T-stub web) at the junction with the vertical leg is subjected to a co-existing tensile force in addition to the bending moment which limits its moment resistance. This is not considered in current design specifications which made them potentially unsafe. This paper reports 5 experimental tests on bolted aluminium angle cleats in grade 6082 T6 that were used to develop and validate a finite element model. Subsequently, parametric studies were conducted over a wider range of flange cleat geometries covering all types of failure modes considered in EN 1999-1-1. The design specifications for equivalent T-stubs in tension set out in EN 1999-1-1 were assessed and cases where the specifications are inaccurate or potentially unsafe were highlighted. A simple modification of the existing design model is proposed, which offers more consistent and safe ultimate capacity predictions.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tws.2025.113447
Divisions: College of Engineering & Physical Sciences > School of Infrastructure and Sustainable Engineering > Civil Engineering
College of Engineering & Physical Sciences
College of Engineering & Physical Sciences > School of Infrastructure and Sustainable Engineering
Aston University (General)
Funding Information: The research presented in this article has received funding from the Smart Concept Fund of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) from the European Union (EU).
Additional Information: Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ).
Uncontrolled Keywords: Aluminium,Connections,EN 1999,Equivalent T-stub,Flange cleats,Civil and Structural Engineering,Building and Construction,Mechanical Engineering
Publication ISSN: 1879-3223
Last Modified: 30 Jun 2025 16:41
Date Deposited: 14 May 2025 09:02
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Related URLs: https://www.sci ... 5403?via%3Dihub (Publisher URL)
http://www.scop ... tnerID=8YFLogxK (Scopus URL)
PURE Output Type: Article
Published Date: 2025-10
Published Online Date: 2025-05-13
Accepted Date: 2025-05-12
Authors: Cabrera, M.
Theofanous, M.
Bock, Marina (ORCID Profile 0000-0002-1519-7761)

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