Structural Behavior of Tension Joint with High-Strength Bolted Split-Tee

The strength and behavior of split-tee connections that are applicable to all tensile connections with high-strength bolts have been studied in many countries. The design code of each country (AISC, Eurocode 3) does not consider various field conditions, however, such as the painting of the connection surface, the length of the bolt shank, and the preload. Moreover, the previous studies (Bahaari) that used the link element on the preload of the bolt could not predict the correct behavior of high-strength bolts. In this study, to evaluate the tensile capability of split-tee connections, a total of 20 split-tee specimens with two bolts each were fabricated and tested. The experiment parameters that were used were the thickness of the T-flanges, painting, preload, and the length of the bolt shank. The joint stiffness of split-tee connections was compared with the stiffness equation of Faella et al., and finite-element method analysis with Ansys 8.0 was conducted. Further, to verify the reliability of the high-strength-bolt model, the load-to-bolt stress relation in the experiment test and the analysis results were compared.