Experiments on cyclic behaviour of reusable side plate cold-formed steel semi-rigid moment-resisting connections

Kanan Ibrahimov; Alireza Bagheri Sabbagh; Naeimeh Jafarifar; Paul Davidson

doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.120797

Experiments on cyclic behaviour of reusable side plate cold-formed steel semi-rigid moment-resisting connections

Kanan Ibrahimov^* (Corresponding Author)
, Alireza Bagheri Sabbagh
, Naeimeh Jafarifar
, Paul Davidson

^*Corresponding author for this work

Engineering

Robert Gordon University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Eight large-scale tests are presented on cantilever side plate cold-formed steel (CFS) semi-rigid moment-resisting connections. These comprise lipped or unlipped side-plates attached to both sides of built-up tubular CFS beam and column sections by means of bolted or screwed connections. The reusability of the connections is investigated by repeating the tests with the original beam and column sections and modified connections. The predominant limit state is side plate plasticity (SPP) for all the connections except the lipped screwed connections governed by screw shear (SS) failure. The findings demonstrate that lipped side plate connections reached a higher peak moment and energy dissipation by up to 60 % and 120 %, respectively, compared with those of the unlipped connections. All the tested connections are classified as semi-rigid while the bolted connections show up to 1.9 times higher level of elastic stiffness than the screwed connections. The lipped side plate bolted connection is identified as more suitable to be considered for a reusable design.

Original language	English
Article number	120797
Number of pages	14
Journal	Engineering Structures
Volume	341
Early online date	21 Jun 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.120797
Publication status	Published - 15 Oct 2025

Bibliographical note

Open access via the Elsevier Agreement.
Laboratory and workshop technicians at the University of Aberdeen School of Engineering are much appreciated. The first author extends his gratitude to his PhD colleagues, Ehsan Bakhshivand and Junyue Ma, at the University of Aberdeen for their collaborative brainstorming sessions whenever needed.

Data Availability Statement

Data will be made available on request.

Funding

This research is funded by the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Keywords

Cold-formed steel
Semi-rigid moment-resisting connections
Cyclic behaviour
Bolted and screwed connections

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Ibrahimov_etal_ES_Experiments_cyclic_behaviou_VOR
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Final published version, 12.7 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Experiments on cyclic behaviour of reusable side plate cold-formed steel semi-rigid moment-resisting connections",

abstract = "Eight large-scale tests are presented on cantilever side plate cold-formed steel (CFS) semi-rigid moment-resisting connections. These comprise lipped or unlipped side-plates attached to both sides of built-up tubular CFS beam and column sections by means of bolted or screwed connections. The reusability of the connections is investigated by repeating the tests with the original beam and column sections and modified connections. The predominant limit state is side plate plasticity (SPP) for all the connections except the lipped screwed connections governed by screw shear (SS) failure. The findings demonstrate that lipped side plate connections reached a higher peak moment and energy dissipation by up to 60 \% and 120 \%, respectively, compared with those of the unlipped connections. All the tested connections are classified as semi-rigid while the bolted connections show up to 1.9 times higher level of elastic stiffness than the screwed connections. The lipped side plate bolted connection is identified as more suitable to be considered for a reusable design.",

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author = "Kanan Ibrahimov and Sabbagh, \{Alireza Bagheri\} and Naeimeh Jafarifar and Paul Davidson",

note = "Open access via the Elsevier Agreement. Laboratory and workshop technicians at the University of Aberdeen School of Engineering are much appreciated. The first author extends his gratitude to his PhD colleagues, Ehsan Bakhshivand and Junyue Ma, at the University of Aberdeen for their collaborative brainstorming sessions whenever needed. ",

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AU - Ibrahimov, Kanan

AU - Sabbagh, Alireza Bagheri

AU - Jafarifar, Naeimeh

AU - Davidson, Paul

N1 - Open access via the Elsevier Agreement. Laboratory and workshop technicians at the University of Aberdeen School of Engineering are much appreciated. The first author extends his gratitude to his PhD colleagues, Ehsan Bakhshivand and Junyue Ma, at the University of Aberdeen for their collaborative brainstorming sessions whenever needed.

PY - 2025/10/15

Y1 - 2025/10/15

N2 - Eight large-scale tests are presented on cantilever side plate cold-formed steel (CFS) semi-rigid moment-resisting connections. These comprise lipped or unlipped side-plates attached to both sides of built-up tubular CFS beam and column sections by means of bolted or screwed connections. The reusability of the connections is investigated by repeating the tests with the original beam and column sections and modified connections. The predominant limit state is side plate plasticity (SPP) for all the connections except the lipped screwed connections governed by screw shear (SS) failure. The findings demonstrate that lipped side plate connections reached a higher peak moment and energy dissipation by up to 60 % and 120 %, respectively, compared with those of the unlipped connections. All the tested connections are classified as semi-rigid while the bolted connections show up to 1.9 times higher level of elastic stiffness than the screwed connections. The lipped side plate bolted connection is identified as more suitable to be considered for a reusable design.

AB - Eight large-scale tests are presented on cantilever side plate cold-formed steel (CFS) semi-rigid moment-resisting connections. These comprise lipped or unlipped side-plates attached to both sides of built-up tubular CFS beam and column sections by means of bolted or screwed connections. The reusability of the connections is investigated by repeating the tests with the original beam and column sections and modified connections. The predominant limit state is side plate plasticity (SPP) for all the connections except the lipped screwed connections governed by screw shear (SS) failure. The findings demonstrate that lipped side plate connections reached a higher peak moment and energy dissipation by up to 60 % and 120 %, respectively, compared with those of the unlipped connections. All the tested connections are classified as semi-rigid while the bolted connections show up to 1.9 times higher level of elastic stiffness than the screwed connections. The lipped side plate bolted connection is identified as more suitable to be considered for a reusable design.

KW - Cold-formed steel

KW - Semi-rigid moment-resisting connections

KW - Cyclic behaviour

KW - Bolted and screwed connections

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DO - 10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.120797

M3 - Article

SN - 0141-0296

VL - 341

JO - Engineering Structures

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M1 - 120797

ER -

Experiments on cyclic behaviour of reusable side plate cold-formed steel semi-rigid moment-resisting connections

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Data Availability Statement

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

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Cite this