Evaluation of Friction Strength Loss in Endplate Moment Connections with Skewed Beam

This paper investigates the behaviour of skewed beam to column connections with endplates. The skewed moment connection results in torsional moment at the column face. The torsional moment causes to additional shear stress at the end plate surface, which will be combined with the shear stress due to the connection shear force. Since the endplate moment connection is a friction bolted connection, the increased shear stress at the connection face can lead to the frictional force loss and possible slippage of the end plate. In order to study the effect of skewed beam to column endplate connection on the ratio of friction force of the connection, 132 non-linear finite element models of beams with 10°, 20°, 30° and 45° of deviation are investigated. The results show that the beams with deviation angle of 45° have considerable loss in frictional force at the end plate. For the smaller deviation angles, adding one or two rows of bolts is an effective method to reduce the frictional force loss of the skewed beams with small deviation.