FINITE-ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF COLUMN BASE PLATES

Column base plates have been analyzed and designed traditionally on the assumptions that the plate is rigid and that the plate thickness can be determined from the cantilever action of the plate projections beyond the column face. Recent investigations have attempted to investigate the actual behavior of column base plates and quantify the differences between the real and assumed behavior. This paper describes the salient features of the two-dimensional finite element analysis of certain base plates which had been tested in the laboratory, and presents the significant findings. The computer results confirm the observed behavior of the test specimens to a reasonable extent. © 1990.