Experimental Study on Truss-Column Pinned Connections in Large-Span Steel Structures

Abstract

A pin-connected joint, which was intended to accommodate a certain in-plane rotation and resist the shear forces, was introduced in this paper. Pinned-connections were applied on Truss-Column joints to support the heavy-loaded floors and roofs in a long-span steel structure. The Pinned-connection was designed in accordance with European code, and compared with other standards such as America standard and Australia standard. To better understand the behavior of materials and structure of this pin-connection structural system, four specimens, including two full-scale pin-connections and two truss connections, were tested to investigate the performance under both monotonic and cyclic loads. The load–displacement curves, hysteretic curve and ultimate loads were obtained, and the failure mode, capacity and ductility were discussed. The experimental and numerical results indicated that the pin-connection behaved good ductility, load transfer ability and capacity.