Theoretical and experimental analysis of t-stubs with four bolts in one row

In the framework of the component method it is well known that, in case of bolted connections, the main sources of deformability are usually modeled by means of the so-called equivalent T-stub in tension. In technical literature, several works deal with the characterization of the monotonic and cyclic behavior of T-stubs with two bolts in a row, but with reference to T-stubs with four bolts in a row, that represents a sub-assemblage applicable to many real structural situations, the limited number of experimental tests and analytical models has not led yet to the codification of this component in Eurocode 3. In order to fill the knowledge gap surrounding such a joint component, in this work, the results of three experimental tests carried out at the laboratory on materials and structures of the University of Coimbra and the steps developed to set up a FE model in ABAQUS software are shown. Successively, a complete formulation able to define the effective length of the T-stub is derived analytically by means of the yield line method. Finally, the accuracy of the proposed approach is verified by comparison with both the experimental results and the parametric analysis results evaluated by means of the calibrated FE model.