Title: Parametric Study on Stiffened Column Bases

Column bases are the critical joint of a steel structure by which gravity, the wind and seismic induced forces are transferred from the structure to the foundation. The common detail for execution of such a connection here in Iran is to attach a base plate bottom of the steel column by welding and to stiffen this assembly by a set of welded stiffeners on the base plate. The current practice of column base construction is completely different in other countries such as United State. There is no stiffener in this construction practice which results in a thick base plate. It should be noted that almost all of the available studies on column base connections are based on the later execution practice. As a result, it is required to conduct an executive investigation on stiffened column bases. With the purpose of producing basic knowledge on the effects of different contributed parameters on the performance of such a connection, after the verification of a tested unstiffened column base with thick base plate in finite element software, ABAQUS, three separately simulation sets were conducted to study the effects of stiffener height, stiffener thickness and base plate thickness on connection performance. Then, the results are compared to identify which parameter may have the most effect. As a result, it was concluded that the base plate thickness had the most effect, up to the point that it was even able to change the failure mode of the connection. Stiffeners thickness was not observed that much effective but stiffeners height had debatable influences on flexural strength and deformed shape.

کلیدواژه ها:

Column Base Connection ، Stiffened Column base ، Stiffeners ، Base Plate ، Parametric Study