Sensitivity analysis results on the separation problem of bolted steel column-to-column connections (Q675353)

The paper deals with the sensitivity analysis of bolted steel column-to-column connections, by taking into account the development of separation phenomena on the joint end plates. A variational inequality and quadratic programming approach are first proposed for the investigation of the separation problem. Applying the classical unilateral contact law to describe in a quasi-static way the separation process along the surface between the splice plates, the continuous problem can be formulated either as a variational inequality or equivalently as a quadratic programming problem. Then, by means of an appropriate finite element discretization scheme, the discrete problem is formulated as a quadratic optimization problem with inequality constraints.