Bearing factors for single shear bolted connections of thin sheet steels at elevated temperatures

A numerical investigation on single shear bolted connections of thin sheet steels at elevated temperatures is described in this paper. A non-linear finite element model (FEM) is developed and verified against test results. It is shown that the FEM can accurately predict the bearing strengths and failure modes of the tested specimens. A parametric study on the bearing strengths of 182 single shear bolted connections at 7 different temperatures was performed using the verified FEM. Bearing factors that included the effects of elevated temperatures were proposed for the bearing strengths of single shear bolted connections with and without considering bolt hole deformation. The bearing strengths of single shear bolted connections of thin sheet steels obtained from the tests and finite element analysis (FEA) were compared with the design strengths calculated using the current North American, Australian/New Zealand and European specifications with consideration of the deterioration of material properties at elevated temperatures. It is shown that the proposed bearing factors improved the predictions of the bearing strengths of single shear bolted connections at elevated temperatures than the current design predications. The reliability of the current and proposed design rules was evaluated using reliability analysis. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.