Journal of Constructional Steel Research 66 (2010) 863–872

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Journal of Constructional Steel Research

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Evaluation of connection flexibility in cold formed steel racks

P. Prabha ∗ , V. Marimuthu, M. Saravanan, S. Arul Jayachandran
Structural Engineering Research Centre, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Campus, Taramani, Chennai-600113, India

article info abstract

Article history: Steel storage racks are three-dimensional framed structures fabricated from cold formed steel sections,
Received 11 November 2009 wherein hook-in end connectors are used to make beam–column connections which are basically boltless
Accepted 29 January 2010 and semi-rigid in nature. Different types of beam end connectors with different geometry of the connected
members are available, making it impossible to develop a generalized analytical model. Only very few
Keywords: theoretical models are available to evaluate the performance of the joints for some typical connectors.
Pallet rack
More often experimental evaluation and numerical studies are needed to predict the behaviour of
Beam–column end connector
Moment–rotation
every different type of connectors. In the present study eighteen experiments were conducted on a
Semi-rigid commercially available pallet rack connection by varying the most influencing parameters such as
Boltless connection thickness of the column, depth of the connector and the depth of the beam. The main objective of this
work is to quantify the beam to column joint, flexibility of commonly used pallet rack frame and to
develop a general Frye–Morris type/three parameter power model type moment versus relative rotation
relationship. A companion finite element shell model that simulates the experimental behaviour closely is
developed using ABAQUS finite element software, which is also used for further parametric studies. Using
the three major variables as size parameters, a Frye–Morris type of equation has been proposed. Some
calibration studies have also been carried out. Using the ultimate moment capacity, initial connection
stiffness and the shape parameter obtained, a three parameter power model has also been proposed to
represent the moment–rotation behaviour of the boltless connections.
© 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction a perforation pitch. The behaviour of the beam end connector is

The process of moving the manufactured products from the
producer to the end user needs highly engineered industrial
storage rack facilities. There are variety of rack structures such as
pallet racks, drive-in racks, drive-through racks, cantilever racks,
selective pallet racks, narrow aisle racking, double deep pallet
racks, push–back racking, gravity flow and pallet flow racks. Pallet
racks are used for relatively low density or in situations where all
the goods must be accessible at all times. It allows comparatively
efficient use of floor space combined with direct access to every
item in the store. A typical pallet racking system is shown in Fig. 1.
The vertical load carrying element consists of upright (column)
frames. The column frames support the horizontal shelf beams
which are perpendicular to the planes of the column. The goods
are usually stored on wooden or metal pallets which are placed
by fork lift trucks on the shelf beams. In the storage rack industry,
boltless semi-rigid connections are used. They are referred to as
beam end connector. Beam end connector provides a means of
supporting the beams, and in addition, because of its stiffness, it
restrains the column. Tabs are also used as connectors. The tabs are
the hooks in the connector that are engaged into the perforations
of cold formed column sections at optional heights determined by
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 044 22549142; fax: +91 044 22541508.
E-mail address: prabha_civ@yahoo.co.in (P. Prabha).
0143-974X/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jcsr.2010.01.019
affected not only by the design of the hook and the bracket, but
also by the size of the beam to which the bracket is welded and
the position of the beam on the bracket. With more hooks, greater
stiffness and strength is achieved. The performance of the racking
systems depends upon the efficiency of the beam end connector.
In unbraced racks, they are the only sources of stiffness required
for down-aisle stability. Pallet racks are not braced in down-aisle
direction. Therefore, the resulting side sway is governed by the
efficiency of the beam end connector, in particular in rotational
stiffness, as well as by the behaviour of floor–column connection.
The resistance to the upward lifting of the beam, accidentally is
provided either by incorporating an upwards facing hook as an
integral part of the connector, or by a device such as a pin which
has significant resistance to upwards shear.
Since 1930s, the studies have been continuing experimentally
and analytically regarding the prediction equation of the connec-
tion rigidity. Frye and Morris [1] developed a polynomial function
to describe the moment–rotation behaviour of different types of
hot rolled bolted connections, which consists of several curve fit-
ting constants and a standardization factor. Ang et al. [2] proposed
a power model to represent the semi-rigid connection behaviour.
Wu and Chen [3] proposed a three parameter exponential model
to represent the behaviour of top and seat angle connection with
and without angles. Kishi and Chen [4] proposed a three param-
eter power model using the initial stiffness, ultimate moment ca-
pacity and shape parameter obtained. Tan et al. [5] developed a
864 P. Prabha et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 66 (2010) 863–872
Nomenclature
3D Three-dimensional
LVDT Linear variable differential transducer
FE Finite element
θo Reference rotation
C1 , C2 , C3 Curve fitting constants
db Depth of the beam
dc Depth of the connector
fu Ultimate strength
fy Yield strength
K Standardization constant
M Connection moment
Mu Ultimate moment capacity
n Shape parameter
Rki Initial connection stiffness
tu Thickness of the column
θr Relative rotation
mathematical model to represent the connection behaviour of thin
walled structures. Each model has its both merits and demerits.
The generalized mathematical model gives a close representation
of the experimentally obtained moment rotation relationships for
the connection investigated. Quite a few numbers of tests were re-
ported in the various different types of connectors in the pallet
racking system. Lewis [6] provided a simple design approach to
the stability of pallet rack structures and the effect that the form
of the moment–rotation characteristic has on the type of stabil-
ity exhibited by the system. Markazi et al. [7] conducted tests on
the four different types of commercially available beam end con-
nectors to determine the parameters governing an efficient beam
end connector. Godley et al. [8] presented procedures for the anal-
ysis and design of unbraced pallet rack structure subjected to both
horizontal and vertical loading. An effective approach has been de-
veloped for the computerised analysis and design of such struc-
tures. The innovative approach adopted enables fast and efficient
design. Claudio and Carlo [9] presented a paper which consists
of an experimental analysis aimed at investigating the behaviour
of beam-to-column joints in the presence of cyclic reversal load-
ing. Carlos Aguirre [10] presented experimental findings about the
beam–column connection under static and cyclic loads. The sim-
ilarity of the static and cyclic failure modes indicate that the fail-
ure is controlled entirely by the connecting elements. Bajoria and
Talikoti [11] conducted tests to determine the flexibility of beam-
to-column connectors used in conventional pallet racking systems
by cantilever and double cantilever test set-up. It was reported that
the double cantilever test to be far superior to conventional single
cantilever test.
A critical review of the existing literature reveals that few
works were reported on cold formed pallet rack connections,
mostly in the European nations. As the usages of rack systems are
becoming popular and in India, there is a need to experimentally
evaluate the characteristics of semi-rigid pallet rack connection.
In this context, a commercially available beam end connector is
taken for evaluation. Eighteen experiments were conducted on
the pallet rack connections by varying (i) the column thickness,
(ii) depth of the beam and (iii) the depth of the end connector.
The monotonic bending tests are carried out by means of double
cantilever experimental set-up which gives a far better shear to
moment ratio. In double cantilever test, the connector is subjected
to three types of forces namely moment, shear, axial pull thus
representing the actual field conditions. Using these tests, it is the
authors’ endeavour to develop a simple analytical model to predict
the moment rotation behaviour of these rack connections using
Fig. 1. A typical pallet racking system.
Frye–Morris type polynomial equation. This model was chosen for
study because this is prescribed in the Code of practice for general
construction in steel IS:800 [12]. According to the format of Frye
and Morris [1] the standardization constant, K involves three size
parameters such as thickness of the column, depth of the beam and
the depth of the connector. Also a three parameter power model
which involves three parameters viz, initial connection stiffness
(Rki ), ultimate moment capacity (Mu ) and shape parameter (n) has
been developed.
2. Experimental investigation
The design of cold formed steel members and assemblies
are normally carried out on the basis of theoretical provisions
prescribed by the code of practice. But in the case of a perforated
cold formed steel member used in the rack system, the design
is carried out based on the initial test on the member and their
behaviour. It is the same case when adequate design method is
not available for some structural members. There is no specific
stipulation with respect to testing of cold formed steel sections in
IS-801 [13] whereas three different types of tests are suggested in
BS: 5950 (part 5)-1987 [14]. They are tensile tests on material, test
on members or connections to determine the actual component
behaviour and tests on complete structures and assemblies. The
purpose of this experimental programme is to investigate the
connection semi-rigidity parameters of a beam end connector
and to determine its moment–rotation behaviour. The parameters
considered in this experimental programme were: thickness of
the column (tu ), depth of the beam (db ) and depth of the
connector (dc ).
2.1. Specimen details
The column and beam specimens are fabricated from cold
formed steel. A total of 18 specimens were identified and the spec-
imen ID is listed in Table 1. For example in the specimen ID 1.8UT-
4L-100BD, 1.8UT indicates the thickness of the column as 1.8 mm,
4L represents the number of connector lips as 4 and the 100BD rep-
resents the depth of the beam as 100 mm. The beam end connec-
tors are made of hot rolled steel. The details of the column section
and the beam section are given in Tables 2 and 3 respectively. The
cross-section details of the column are shown in Fig. 2. The details
of the lip connector are given in Table 4 and the cross-section de-
tails of the stringer beam and lips are shown in Fig. 3. The ratio
between depth of the beam to the depth of the connector indicates
the measure of stiffening effect of beam on connector.
2.2. Test set-up
The schematic diagram of the test set-up is given in Fig. 4. The
double cantilever type test set-up arrangement is shown in Fig. 5.
Two beams are connected to the column. The main advantage of
 P. Prabha et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 66 (2010) 863–872 865

Table 2
Details of the column section.
S. Specimen Thickness Height H b t
no configuration (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm)

1 1.8 500 110 90

2 1.8 550 110 90
3 2.0 500 110 90
Column
4 2.0 550 110 90
5 2.5 500 110 90
6 2.5 550 110 90

Table 3
Fig. 2. Cross-section of the column and beam section. Details of the beam section.
S. Beam Length Width b Depth h Thickness (mm)
Table 1 no id (mm) (mm) (mm)
Specimen ID.
1 1000 50 100 1.6
T. no Specimen ID T. no Specimen ID 2 Beam 1000 50 125 1.6
3 1000 50 150 1.6
1 1.8UT-4L-100BD 10 2.0UT-5L-100BD
2 1.8UT-4L-125BD 11 2.0UT-5L-125BD
3 1.8UT-4L-150BD 12 2.0UT-5L-150BD Table 4
4 1.8UT-5L-100BD 13 2.5UT-4L-100BD Details of the Lipped connector.
5 1.8UT-5L-125BD 14 2.5UT-4L-125BD
6 1.8UT-5L-150BD 15 2.5UT-4L-150BD S. Lipped b h Depth Thickness (mm)
7 2.0UT-4L-100BD 16 2.5UT-5L-100BD no connector (mm) (mm) (mm)
8 2.0UT-4L-125BD 17 2.5UT-5L-125BD 1 4 L/c 39.5 64 200 3.5
9 2.0UT-4L-150BD 18 2.5UT-5L-150BD 2 5 L/c 39.5 64 250 3.5

this type of set-up is the column moves only up and down as a
rigid body. The entire beam deformation is only by the connection
deformation. Normally the load is transferred from the beam to the
column. Here, the load is applied on the top of the column. Hence,
the position of the beam end connector is reversed and hooked in
the column perforations. The beam is down welded at a distance
of 40 mm from the top of the beam end connector in the tension
side and is kept constant for all the tests. The unconnected two
ends of the beams are guided by the channel section faced back to
back to restrain the lateral movement of the beam. The channels

(a) Box beam. (b) End connector.

Fig. 3. Cross-section of the stringer & lipped connector.

REACTION FRAME

LOADING PLATE

UPRIGHT

INCLINOMETER
COLUMN

BEAM END CONNECTOR

Beam Beam

L/4 L/4 L/4 L/4

DIAL GAUGE

PEDESTAL PEDESTAL

Fig. 4. Schematic diagram of the test set-up.

866 P. Prabha et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 66 (2010) 863–872
Fig. 5. Double cantilever test set-up.
Fig. 6. Load strain behaviour of the specimen 2.0UT-4L-100BD.
welded to a 10 mm plate which acts as a vertical guide are
fabricated and placed over the supports on both the sides. The
beams are supported on the roller and the hinge to simulate the
simply supported conditions. Locking pin is inserted in the middle
position and the purpose is to keep the connector and the column
in position and to prevent any accidental uplift. The clear span
between the centres of the supports is 1900 mm. The strain gauge
positions were identified from the stress pattern obtained from
the finite element study. Three strain gauges were pasted, one in
the column web portion S1, other two near the bottom slot of the
beam end connector in the tension region on two sides, S2 and S3.
One typical load strain graph for the specimen 2.0UT-4L-100BD is
given in Fig. 6. The strain gauge S1 in the column web shows the
tensile strain and the strain gauges S2 and S3 in the end connector
region shows the compressive strain. An LVDT (D2) is attached to
the bottom of the column to find the central deflection. Another
two LVDT’s (D1&D3) are placed at an L/4 distance from the centre
of the column to find the beam deflection. The strain gauge lead
wires and the LVDT are connected to a computer assisted data-
logging system MGC Plus, together with the load cell, to monitor
the specimen response in real time during test. Two inclinometers
are used to obtain the rotation of the beam in degrees directly by
keeping them on the both sides of the beam. The load is applied in a
displacement controlled manner using a 5 T hydraulic jack at a rate
of 1 mm/min. Events such as column displacement, beam rotation,
failure load are monitored through the test.
2.3. Discussion on the test results
From the recorded data, the load deflection behaviour, moment
rotation behaviour of the joints were plotted. The results were
flange
stiffener
Rear flangle
web
Lip
Fig. 7. Parts of the column configuration.
used to determine the maximum moments of resistance and the
stiffness of the beam end connectors. All the tests exhibited a
nonlinear behaviour of connection. For better explanation the
cross-section of the column were given specific names as shown in
Fig. 7. In all the tests, the tabs corners came into contact with the
column web and initiated the failure. The ultimate joint failure is by
the tabs in the tension side, tried to come out by cutting the column
web slots causing the drop in the load. For the specimens having
four lipped connector, the tension side two hooks on both sides has
come out by tearing the column flange (Fig. 8a) and the third hook
close to the compression side has made a slight tear in the column
web. In case of the five lipped connector specimens, the tension
side three hooks has come out tearing the column flange (Fig. 8b)
and the ones close to the compression side has made a slight
tear. For the specimens 2.5UT-5L-125BD and 2.5UT-5L-150BD, a
cut in the mid-height of the beam end connector is observed. The
strains are observed in the column and the connector. No beam
deformation is observed throughout the tests. The deformation
suffered by the column is shown in Fig. 9.
The failure load and the initial stiffness of the connector is
tabulated in Table 5. The stiffness is calculated from the slope of
the tangent line passing through the point of zero load. The average
value of the initial stiffness (K ) obtained for the 18 specimens
is 83.82 kN m/rad. The distribution of initial stiffness of all the
specimens is shown in Fig. 10. The possible initial looseness of
beam end connectors due to the absence of bolts or welds in the
connection systems often induces a large lateral deformation of the
frame.
2.4. Influence of the parameters
2.4.1. Effect of column thickness on the behaviour
2.4.1.1. Varying column thickness for 4 lip connector (4L/C). The
comparison of the moment–rotation curves of the connection for
the varying column thickness and varying beam depths is given
in Fig. 11. With the increase in column thickness from 1.8 to 2.0
for constant beam depth 100 mm, there is a little change in the
moment capacity. Further increase to 2.5 mm has resulted in 7%
increase in the ultimate moment capacity. For the beam depth
125 mm, the increase in column thickness from 1.8 to 2.0 mm
has marginally increased the moment carrying capacity. Further
increase to 2.5 mm has increased the capacity by 19% showing the
effect of column thickness.
 P. Prabha et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 66 (2010) 863–872 867

Table 5
Strength and stiffness of the connector.
T. no Specimen ID Failure load (kN) Ultimate moment capacity (kN m) Initial stiffness (kN m/rad) Rotation at the ultimate moment radians

1 1.8UT-4L-100BD 4.66 2.21 57.29 0.074

2 1.8UT-4L-125BD 5.09 2.42 71.62 0.058
3 1.8UT-4L-150BD 4.67 2.22 71.62 0.057
4 1.8UT-5L-100BD 4.80 2.28 66.84 0.087
5 1.8UT-5L-125BD 6.23 2.96 85.94 0.070
6 1.8UT-5L-150BD 5.68 2.69 114.59 0.060
7 2.0UT-4L-100BD 4.63 2.21 57.29 0.105
8 2.0UT-4L-125BD 4.85 2.30 71.62 0.078
9 2.0UT-4L-150BD 5.50 2.61 71.62 0.079
10 2.0UT-5L-100BD 5.41 2.57 66.84 0.089
11 2.0UT-5L-125BD 5.54 2.64 114.59 0.076
12 2.0UT-5L-150BD 6.47 3.07 114.59 0.079
13 2.5UT-4L-100BD 4.96 2.36 71.62 0.076
14 2.5UT-4L-125BD 6.10 2.89 85.94 0.066
15 2.5UT-4L-150BD 7.60 3.61 85.94 0.065
16 2.5UT-5L-100BD 5.57 2.65 71.62 0.101
17 2.5UT-5L-125BD 8.90 4.23 114.59 0.115
18 2.5UT-5L-150BD 7.41 3.51 114.59 0.080
Average 83.82

(a) Four lipped connector. (b) Five lipped connector.

Fig. 8. Specimens 1.8UT– 4L–100BD and 1.8UT-5L-100BD after test.

For the next higher beam depth 150 mm, the increase in
column thickness from 1.8 to 2.0 mm has increased the moment
carrying capacity by 18% and further increase to 2.5 mm resulted
in 63% increase in capacity demonstrating the effect of using
thicker gauge column. The minor kinks found in the graph (Fig. 11)
may be due to the initial imperfection of the specimens. All
the connections exhibited the nonlinear behaviour. The specimen
2.5UT-4L-150BD with relatively heavy and compact, resulted in
highest moment–rotation capacity.
2.4.1.2. Varying column thickness for constant 5 lip connector (5 L/C).
The comparison of the behaviour of the connection by varying the
thickness of the column for the five lipped connector is shown in
Fig. 12. For the beam depth 100 mm, with the increase in column
thickness from 1.8 to 2.0 and 2.5 mm has exhibited 16% increase
in moment carrying capacity. For the 125 mm beam depth, the
moment carrying capacity is 12% more for the 1.8 mm thickness
column section than 2 mm also with a good ductile behaviour. A
sudden increase in capacity of about 43% is observed in the 2.5 mm
thick specimen. For the beam depth of 150 mm, the increase in
column thickness from 1.8 to 2.0 mm resulted in 19% increase in
moment carrying capacity and a further increase to 2.5 mm has
resulted in 36% increase in the moment capacity.
2.4.2. Effect of beam depth on the behaviour
2.4.2.1. Varying depth of the beam for constant 1.8UT, 2UT and 2.5UT
with 4L/C. From Fig. 11, for the UT 1.8 mm it can be seen that
there is increase in moment capacity of the specimen with 125 mm
beam depth, which may possibly be due to the heavy imperfections
observed in the specimen. For the 150 mm beam depth, there is
25% increase in the initial stiffness. For the specimen with column
thickness 2 mm, due to increase in beam depths, there is 25%
increase in the initial stiffness and 18% increase in the moment
capacity. For the column thickness 2.5 mm specimen, for the
increased beam depths, there is 17% increase in the initial stiffness
and 53% increase in the moment capacity.
2.4.2.2. Varying depth of the beam for constant 1.8UT, 2UT and 2.5UT
with 5L/C. For the five lipped connector with 1.8UT and 2.5UT
specimens (Fig. 12), the moment capacity of the specimen with
125 mm beam depth is 71% more than the specimen with 150 mm
depth. The increase is possibly due to the heavy imperfections
observed in the specimen. For the 2UT specimens, the moment
capacity increase is by 20% for the increased beam depths, and
there is an enormous increase in stiffness by 71%.
868 P. Prabha et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 66 (2010) 863–872
Fig. 9. Deformation of the column.
Fig. 10. Distribution of initial stiffness of all the specimens.
2.4.3. Effect of lipped connector on the behaviour
The moment rotation comparison curve for the varying lipped
connector is given in Figs. 13–15. The increase in the number of
lips from 4 to 5 resulted in considerable increase in the moment
capacity by 4%–17% with respect to the increase in beam depth for
1.8 UT specimen, and the stiffness increase is around 20%–60%. The
similar trend of the behaviour is observed for the 2.0UT specimen.
But for the specimen with 2.5 mm column thickness, switching
from the 4L/c to 5L/c and the increase in the beam depths from
100 to 125 mm has increased the moment capacity and stiffness
by 17% and 60% respectively. Further increase to 150 mm beam
depth has no change in the moment capacity by demonstrating a
lack of gain in performance but has the considerable initial stiffness
increase by 33%.
Fig. 11. Comparison graphs for varying column thickness and beam depths for a
4L/C .
Fig. 12. Comparison graphs for varying column thickness and beam depths for a
5L/C .
Fig. 13. Effect of four and five lipped connector on the behaviour (100 mm beam
depth).
3. Numerical investigation
Before evaluating the connection model a three-dimensional
(3D) elasto-plastic nonlinear finite element analysis is carried out
to evaluate the moment–rotation behaviour of boltless semi-rigid
connections using ABAQUS [15] software. Out of the finite element
models developed, FE models for two specimens, 1.8UT-5L-100BD
and 2.0UT-4L-125BD are presented in this study.
 P. Prabha et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 66 (2010) 863–872 869

Table 6
Material properties for column, beam and beam end connector.
Connecting member Young’s modulus (GPa) Poisson’s ratio Yield strength fy (MPa) Ultimate strength fu (MPa) % Elongation

Column 280 382 18

Beam 205 0.3 327 435 21
Beam end connector 304 353 18

Fig. 14. Effect of four and five lipped connector on the behaviour (125 mm beam
depth).

Fig. 17. Contact and boundary conditions.

Fig. 15. Effect of four and five lipped connector on the behaviour (150 mm beam
depth).
Fig. 16. Finite element model of the beam–column connection.
3.1. Finite element modeling
The geometry, boundary and loading conditions of the finite
element model were developed to best simulate the double
cantilever test as shown in Fig. 16. The cold formed sections are
very thin sections subjected to invariable bending. Hence, all the
components are modeled using thin shell elements, (element S4R
in ABAQUS [15]) with reduced integration. The beam with an
end plate is connected at mid-height of the column. The contact
between the beam end connector and the beam is modeled using
a connector element called BEAM element, which constraints
its two end nodes to have equal values for all six degrees of
freedom. This will simulate the welded connection between beam
and the connector. Contact surfaces were defined between the
beam end connector and the column to simulate their interaction.
The contact between the beam end connector and the column is
modeled using frictionless surface to surface contact algorithm.
The connection between end connector slots and the column
slots are achieved using connector elements. This element simply
transfer any force and does not carry force by itself. Since it is
difficult to model the tabs, appropriate boundary conditions are
assigned to the connector elements to simulate the behaviour of
the tabs. The upper hex stud is modeled by the use of multipoint
constraints to provide a pinned joint between the node on the
beam end connector and the column, while the lower hex stud was
modeled by the use of multipoint constraints and nonlinear axial
springs as shown in Fig. 17. The nonlinear axial spring is used to
capture the initial looseness behaviour of the joint. The stiffness of
the spring is calibrated to best match initial looseness behaviour
of the test results. In the four lipped connector the first slot (1, 2)
of the connection part displacement in the x-direction, y-direction
and Z -direction is restrained and for the last three slots (3–8) of the
connection part displacement in the y-direction and Z -direction
is restrained. Whereas in the five lipped connector, the first two
slots are restrained in the x-direction, y-direction and Z -direction
and the last three slots are restrained in the y-direction and
Z -direction to simulate the behaviour of tabs. The load is applied
on the top of the column in displacement controlled manner.
Static nonlinear analysis is carried out by considering material,
geometrical and contact nonlinearities. Stress–strain relation of
steel is represented by a tri-linear constitutive model. The material
properties of beams, column and beam end connector is listed in
Table 6.
3.2. Failure of the connection
The deformed shape of specimen obtained from the analysis
and the experiment is shown in Fig. 18. From the von Mises stress
870 P. Prabha et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 66 (2010) 863–872
Fig. 18. Deformed shape of the specimen from analysis and experiment.
Fig. 19. von Mises stress pattern showing the deformation suffered by column and
the connector.
pattern, it is seen that the column is more stressed in the fourth
and fifth slot from the bottom of the column. Load is applied at
the top of the column which causes compression in the top of the
beam and tension at the bottom. As explained previously under the
test set-up, the connections are in the reversed positions; the top
portion of the slots in the column, where the tabs come into contact
has large stress concentrations that can be seen in the Fig. 19. The
ultimate joint failure resulted from the tabs cutting into the column
web (Fig. 18). The degree of deformation suffered by the column
web and the connector portion is evident from the von Mises stress
distribution (Fig. 19). The comparison of moment–rotation graph
plotted for both the specimens is given in Fig. 20. To a large extent,
the FE model is capable of predicting the experimental behaviour.
The initial stiffness portion of the curve has a good match with the
test results. However, the FE model was not able to capture the
failure mode observed in the test. In the test the failure took place
with tearing of column perforation by the lower hex stud. Thus,
the connection ultimate moment capacity obtained by using the FE
model was higher than obtained from the test because the splitting
of the column flange could not be captured. Improvement in the
finite element result can be achieved with better modeling details
of the connection and employing fracture mechanics principles.
4. Proposed analytical models for pallet rack connection
4.1. Polynomial model based on Frye–Morris [12]
Frye–Morris [1] proposed a non-dimensional polynomial model
for moment–rotation characterization of the connections, which
has been incorporated in IS: 800 [12] to predict the moment
rotation behaviour of various hot rolled connections. In this
present paper, an analytical model for cold formed boltless
connection in the lines of Frye–Morris model has been proposed
Fig. 20. Comparison of moment–rotation capacity for specimen 1.8UT-5L-100BD
and 2.0UT-4L-125BD.
using the 18 test results and the ABAQUS numerical results.
The moment–rotation characteristics for a particular connection
has been generated by substituting its size parameters into
the standardized relationship. As mentioned earlier, the size
parameters for the beam–column connections are (i) thickness of
column (tu ), (ii) depth of the beam (db ) and (iii) the depth of the
connector (dc ). The standardized relationship is given as
θr = C1 (KM ) + C2 (KM )3 + C3 (KM )5 (1)
where moment (M ) in kN mm, K is the standardization constant
and the size parameters are in mm. The new standardization
constant K is of the form
c ∗ db .
K = tua1 ∗ da2 a3
(2)
The coefficients aj can be calculated using the formula
log(M1 /M2 )
aj = . (3)
log(pj2 /pj1 )
Eq. (3) is used to calculate ‘aj ’ values corresponding to several
different rotations for each combination of experimental curves.
When average values have been calculated for all ‘m’ exponents ‘aj ’,
they are plotted on a standardized moment–rotation (KM versus
θr ) diagram. Finally, a least squares curve fitting procedure is used
to derive the standardized moment–rotation relationship. The
average a1 for varying column thickness (tu ) is −0.5, for varying
depth of connector (dc ) is −0.674, and a3 for varying beam depth
(db ) is −0.616.
Therefore the standardization factor K (Eq. (2)) becomes as
follows
0.616
K = tu−0.5 ∗ d−
c
0.674
∗ d−
b . (4)
The curve fitting constants obtained for all the specimens is listed
in Table 7.
 P. Prabha et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 66 (2010) 863–872 871

Table 7
Curve fitting constants.
Specimen id C1 C2 C3

1.8UT-4L-100BD 8.33E−03 2.65E−03 3.35E−05

1.8UT-4L-125BD −9.43E−03 1.84E−02 −2.08E−03
1.8UT-4L-150BD −4.97E−03 1.55E−02 −1.77E−03
1.8UT-5L-100BD 1.80E−02 −5.37E−03 1.47E−03
1.8UT-5L-125BD 4.63E−02 −7.17E−03 6.17E−04
1.8UT-5L-150BD −4.20E−03 9.26E−03 −7.20E−04
2.0UT-4L-100BD 2.21E−02 −5.72E−03 1.23E−03
2.0UT-4L-125BD 6.67E−03 4.64E−03 4.84E−05
2.0UT-4L-150BD 2.06E−02 −3.77E−03 1.14E−03
2.0UT-5L-100BD 3.51E−03 6.51E−03 −2.14E−04
2.0UT-5L-125BD −3.37E−03 9.19E−03 −3.97E−04
2.0UT-5L-150BD −3.35E−03 1.41E−02 −1.25E−03
2.5UT-4L-100BD 1.32E−02 2.44E−03 −1.67E−04
2.5UT-4L-125BD −5.07E−03 1.46E−02 −1.50E−03
2.5UT-4L-150BD 5.07E−02 −6.41E−03 3.59E−04
2.5UT-5L-100BD 1.45E−01 −4.76E−02 4.78E−03
Fig. 21. Comparison of experimental moment–rotation behaviour with proposed 2.5UT-5L-125BD 2.04E−02 −2.05E−03 3.39E−04
Frye–Morris model. 2.5UT-5L-150BD 4.77E−02 −6.46E−03 5.37E−04

ultimate moment capacity (Mu ) and shape parameter (n). The

moment–rotation relationship can be generally represented by the
power model
Rki θr
M = h i1/n (6)
(θ )n
1 + (θr )
o

where M — Connection moment in kN m, Rki — Initial connection

Fig. 22. Comparison of experimental moment–rotation behaviour (Markazi et al.)
with proposed Frye–Morris model.
Therefore, the average value of C1 = 2.07E–02, C2
7.08E–04, C3 = 1.37E–04 and the Eq. (1) becomes,
2r = 2.07E–02 (KM) + 7.08E–04 (KM)3
+ 1.37E–04 (KM)5 (5)
where, θr — relative rotation in radians, M — connection moment
in kN mm, and all other parameters are in mm. This proposed
model is calibrated back with the experimental moment–rotation
behaviour. The comparison is made for the specimen 2.5UT-5L-
125BD in Fig. 21. The comparison shows that the initial portion
of the moment–rotation capacity curve obtained by using the
proposed model is in close comparison with the experiment
results. Also the test results of similar type of boltless connection
conducted by Markazi et al. [7] (Product 9) is plotted in Fig. 22 to
validate the proposed model. In both the comparisons, the initial
stiffness portion obtained by using the proposed model presents
a good fit with the experimental results. However, the proposed
model could not capture the ultimate strength of the connection.
Till now, to best of authors’ knowledge no analytical model is
available in the literature to predict the behaviour of the cold
formed boltless connections; the proposed model will be useful in
the linear design space.
4.2. Three parameter power model
Due to the inability of the proposed Frye–Morris model
in predicting the ultimate capacities of the connections, a
three parameter power model has been developed to represent
the entire moment rotation behaviour of the connection. It
involves three parameters namely, initial connection stiffness (Rki ),
stiffness in kN m/rad, θo — Mu /Rki , reference rotation, Mu —
Ultimate moment capacity in kN m, θr — Relative rotation in
radians, n — shape parameter.
Using the initial stiffness values obtained from the tests,
a regression analysis is carried out and the initial stiffness is
expressed in the form of an expression,
Rki = 1791.05tu + 235.14db + 208.48dc . (7)
Similarly the ultimate moment (Mu ) can be obtained from the
simple polynomial expression developed from the experimental
= results by taking only the depth of the beam as
Mu = 272d2b − 48.8db + 4.81. (8)
By substituting all the parameters into the Eqs. (7) and (8), Rki
and Mu can be obtained. The shape parameter (n) is determined
from the least square curve fitting with the experimental
results obtained. The developed power model is plotted with
the experiments on four specimens; 1.8UT-4L-100BD, 2.0UT-5L-
125BD, 2.5UT-5L-150BD, 2.5UT-4L-125BD and is shown in Fig. 23.
Although the power model is unable to predict the dropping part
of the experiment curve, however it is quite good in predicting
the ultimate capacity of the connection. The shape parameter n is
found to lie in the range of 1–4.
5. Conclusions
From the experimental studies on 18 specimens and numerical
studies using ABAQUS FE model, the following conclusions are
made
1. The moment rotation characteristic of a joint is determined
not only by the design of the beam end connector, but also by
the efficiency of the accompanying members, in particular the
column.
2. From the parametric studies it is observed that, increasing the
number of tabs lead to increase in the stiffness and strength of
the beam end connector. Tabs must be arranged so as to resist
the applied loading.
3. Increased depth of the beam and the thickness of the column
improved the strength and stiffness of the joint.
872 P. Prabha et al. / Journal of Constructional Steel Research 66 (2010) 863–872
Fig. 23. Comparison of experimental moment–rotation behaviour with proposed
power model.
Regarding the numerical analysis made by using ABAQUS [15], the
FE model developed using the test results presented a best fit with
the experimental behaviour. Hence, the validated model could be
used for further parametric studies.
Two analytical models are proposed; one is the polynomial
model based on the Frye–Morris [1] procedure and the power
model for the cold formed boltless semi-rigid connections. The
Frye–Morris model involves standardization constant K which is
evaluated using the test results and it considers the three size
parameters such as, thickness of the column, depth of the beam
and the depth of the connector. The proposed polynomial model
is found to predict the initial stiffness of the tested connections
reasonably well. To the best of the author’s knowledge, as there
is no analytical model available in the literature to predict the
moment–rotation behaviour, the proposed model will be useful for
the linear design space. The power model prediction has a close fit
with the experimental results and is also capable of predicting the
ultimate capacity of the connection.
Acknowledgements
This paper is published with the kind permission of the Director,
Structural Engineering Research Centre (SERC), Chennai, India.
The authors also thank the Advisor Management, SERC for his
encouragement. The authors thank Mr. R. Ravindran, Technical
Assistant for his support in conducting experiments.
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