Experimental investigation of the service shear strength of the welded clip‐angle connector in a CFS beam‐to‐column connection

Abstract

The present research endeavours to experimentally evaluate the service shear strength of the cold‐formed steel (CFS) welded clip‐angle connector in a CFS beam‐to‐column connection. A total of 30 laboratory tests were conducted on the 27 configurations of the clip‐angle by varying its thickness, width, and depth. The governing design failure modes observed in the welded clip‐angle are (i) Local buckling and (ii) Distortional buckling. The existing traditional elastic design approach for the service limit state design of CFS connector was found to be highly conservative for most of the welded clip‐angle specimens. Hence a new design approach is developed for the welded clip‐angle configuration and the corresponding design shear equation is suggested. A comparative study was conducted between the present welded clip‐angle configuration and existing screwed configuration. The design recommendations were suggested for the efficient design of the connection for the welded clip‐angle configuration. The relevant design factors for the suggested shear equations of welded clip‐angle were evaluated from the reliability analysis.