Experimental Study on the Performance of Slant End-Plate Connections at Elevated Temperature

Abstract

Axially restrained steel beams exhibit lower structural efficiency when they are subjected to elevated temperature. Thermal expansion is one of the most hazardous conditions such beams could experience throughout their service life. In this regard, using an adequately performing connection can enhance the thermal performance of the beams. This paper, therefore, evaluates experimentally the performance of slant end-plate as a proposed connection for dissipating thermal expansion experienced by the steel beam. In this study, several experimental tests were carried out on two different specimens in terms of scaling and gravity loads to prove the hypothesis and results obtained from a present analytical study. The evaluation of tests and analytical results showed that both outcomes are consistent with each other with comparison ratios between 0.96 and 1.09. In addition, the experimental tests, as well as analytical outcomes, have proven that the slant end-plate connection can successfully reduce the additional thermally induced axial forces via the upward crawling mechanism.