Experimental investigation of composite moment connections with external stiffeners

This paper presents tensile behavior for Concrete-Filled Tubular (CFT) column to H-beam welded connections. These connections were reinforced externally with T-shaped stiffeners at the junction of column and beam. Tensile loading tests and analyses were carried out for the T-stiffener connections. The results demonstrated that the overall behavior and failure modes of all the specimens were governed mainly by the horizontal stiffeners rather than by the vertical stiffeners, while the vertical stiffener only played a role in transferring the load introduced from beam to column. In addition, a simple design method for the T-stiffeneris suggested, with consideration of the effects of the shear strength of the horizontal stiffener and yield line mechanism of the column flange. The prediction and test results are compared and they are in good agreement.