Experimental Behavior of Stiffened and Unstiffened

End-Plate Connections under Cyclic Loading

Bing Guo1; Qiang Gu2; and Feng Liu3
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Abstract: To compare the hysteretic behavior, stiffness, and strength of stiffened and unstiffened extended end-plate connections of
beam–column joints, six specimens with eight high strength bolts were tested under cyclic load. During the test, the axial force of the
column was kept constant. The end plates of three specimens and column webs of five specimens were reinforced with rib stiffeners, and
the thickness of end plates was varied with the same configuration of beams and columns of all the specimens. Although the plastic
rotation of all connections exceeded 0.03 rad, they showed different hysteretic behavior, the stiffened ones exhibited higher load carrying
and energy dissipation capacities, and the end-plates’ stiffness had a crucial influence on their cyclic behaviors. For thinner end plates,
stiffeners can increase the stiffness of the connection greatly, and delay the premature fracture of welds. Stiffeners of the column web can
change the stress dissipation panel zone and reduce the possibility of strength failure of column flange.
DOI: 10.1061/共ASCE兲0733-9445共2006兲132:9共1352兲
CE Database subject headings: Cyclic loads; Stiffness; Energy dissipation; Bearing capacity.

Introduction
End-plate moment connections as shown in Fig. 1, commonly
referred to as four-tension bolt type, have the advantage of requir-
ing less supervision and shortening assembly time than welded
joints. As a kind of semirigid connection, end-plate joints can be
safe and ductile 共Astanesh-Als 1999兲. These, however, require a
thorough understanding of the characteristics of the connections
presented in a particular frame, as to ductility, stiffness, and
strength varying with the detailed construction and the load style.
Traditionally column web and end-plate stiffeners are used to
increase the load carrying capacity and rigidity of bolted extended
end-plate, moment connections in structural steelwork. Many ex-
perimental investigations studied the behavior of end-plate con-
nections under monotonic moment 共Agerskov 1976; Grundy et al.
1980; Kukreti et al. 1990; Chasten et al. 1992; Aggarwal 1994;
Bose 1998兲. However, these researches focused mainly on the
effects of prying force, end-plate, and column web thickness on
the behavior of such connections. Experimental results about the
influence of stiffeners, especially under cyclic load, are very
limited.
The early cyclic test was conducted at the University of Cali-
fornia at Berkeley, Calif. 共Tsai and Popov 1990兲. The results
showed that the distribution of the bolt forces near the tension
flange in an unstiffened end plate may be very uneven under
cyclically applied beam moments, and it can lead to premature
fracture of the inside tension bolts. In contrast, the specimens
with end-plate rib stiffeners exhibited excellent behavior. The
same conclusion was also demonstrated in other experimental re-
search 共Adey et al. 2000兲. Because of the lack of column axial
force in above two tests, they cannot simulate the actual working
conditions of joints in steel frames.
There are two distinct viewpoints about the action of column
web stiffeners. One can estimate that 共Plumier 1994兲, because of
the thickness of the end-plate coming out of the overstrength rule
is so important that the height of the column panel zone involved
in a yielding mechanism be the height of the end-plate, there is no
reason to put the column web stiffeners in the same plane as the
beam flanges. The other view insists on the fact that column web
stiffeners can delay the bucking of the column flange and reduce
its deformation 共Wang et al. 2001兲. In addition, stiffeners are very

1
Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Shandong Institute
of Architecture & Engineering, Jinan 250014, China 共corresponding
author兲. E-mail: guobing03@yahoo.com.cn
2
Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Science and
Technology of Suzhou, Suzhou 215011, China.
3
Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Shandong Institute of
Architecture and Engineering, Jinan 250014, China.
Note. Associate Editor: Brian Uy. Discussion open until February 1,
2007. Separate discussions must be submitted for individual papers. To
extend the closing date by one month, a written request must be filed with
the ASCE Managing Editor. The manuscript for this paper was submitted
for review and possible publication on February 13, 2004; approved on
October 17, 2005. This paper is part of the Journal of Structural Engi-
neering, Vol. 132, No. 9, September 1, 2006. ©ASCE, ISSN 0733-9445/
2006/9-1352–1357/$25.00. Fig. 1. Typical end-plate connection

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 Table 1. Test Specimens
End-plate End-plate Column web
Specimen thickness 共mm兲 stiffeners stiffeners
S-1 12 Haven’t Have
S-2 12 Have Have
S-3 15 Have Have
S-4 18 Haven’t Haven’t
S-5 18 Have Have
S-6 25 Haven’t Have
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effective in increasing the shear capacity of the panel zone and

the rigidity of the joint.
In order to assess the hysteretic behavior of end-plate connec-
tions with different details, a series of full-scale tests under cyclic
loading were conducted at the Shandong Institute of Architecture
and Engineering. Six specimens among them were used to study
the influence of column web and end-plate stiffeners. A summary
of the relevant tests is given in this paper. Based on the analysis
and comparison of these results, the influence of stiffeners on the
hysteretic behavior including load carrying and energy dissipation
capacities is discussed. In addition, the distribution of stress in
plate and column web is also provided.
Experimental Program
Fig. 2. Details of end-plate connections
stiffen the end plate, and four 10-mm-thick column web stiffeners
were set for Specimens S1–S3, S5, and S6 at the beam flange
levels.
All materials, except bolts, were from Q235 steel with a nomi-
nal yield stress of 235 MPa. To obtain an accurate assessment of
the yield stress of the beam, column, and end-plate materials, 12
coupons were subjected to uniaxial tensile load. It was found that
materials had a higher yield stress than the nominal one. The
actual average yield stress for all materials was about 310 MPa.
The actual plastic moments of beam and column are given in
Table 2.

Test Specimens Test Setup and Instrumentations

Six specimens were designed with the following variables to ana- The parts of specimens were supplied by a local steel fabricator.
lyze the influence of column web and end-plate stiffeners: 共1兲 end No attempt was made to control the workmanship. The total test
plate with or without rib stiffeners; 共2兲 column web with or with- setup and instrumentation used in the present study are shown in
out rib stiffeners; and 共3兲 different end-plate thickness. The speci- Fig. 3. The setup, which was used for all the test specimens,
mens were designated as S1–S6, as shown in Table 1. consisted of: 共1兲 a two-way hydraulic actuator of 200 kN capacity
Each specimen consisted of a cantilever beam connected to a to apply cyclic load at the beam tip in vertical plane; 共2兲 a
column stub on the side of the column at its midheight. In all 1,000 kN hydraulic jack to apply the axial force on the column
specimens, the length of beam and column were 1,600 and top; 共3兲 a reaction frame to support the column stub and jack;
1,800 mm, respectively. The beam and column sections were the and 共4兲 a loading frame to support the two-way hydraulic
same and satisfied with the “weak beam–strong column” concept actuator. The reaction frame and loading frame were prestressed
共Table 2兲. The beam was connected to the column by means of to a 600-mm-thick floor slab of the laboratory by four 60-mm-
extended end-plate connections with eight high-strength bolts
共M20, grade 10.9, yield stress f y is 960 N / mm2, ultimate stress f u
is 1,040 N / mm2兲. All bolts were fully tightened to the pretension
force of 155 kN using a torque wrench previously calibrated for
each specimen. The bolts had the same dimensions and arrange-
ments for each specimen, as illustrated in Fig. 2. The beam was
fully welded to the end plate with fillet welds.
The thickness of end plates was designed according to the
Chinese specification CECS 102:2002 共Institute of Standardiza-
tion for Construction 1999兲. Specimen S4 was just right to satisfy
the request of the specification, but S1, S2, and S3 didn’t satisfy
the request. In Specimens S2, S3, and S5, two 6-mm-thick plates
were welded to beam flanges and the end plate in web line to

Table 2. Dimensions and Calculated Moments of Member Sections

Flange Web Yielding Plastic
Height Width thickness thickness moment moment
Members 共mm兲 共mm兲 共mm兲 共mm兲 共kN m兲 共kN m兲
Beam 200 150 10 6 93.0 103.4
Column 200 200 18 12 199.1 218.9 Fig. 3. Test setup and instrumentation

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 Table 3. Summary of Test Results
M max ␪max Rin
Specimen 共kN m兲 M max / M pb 共rad兲 共kN m/rad兲 Ce Failure mode
4
S-1 86.9 0.84 0.033 1.33⫻ 10 1.2 Welds fracture
S-2 122.6 1.18 0.050 1.48⫻ 104 1.5 Welds fracture
S-3 140.2 1.36 0.051 1.66⫻ 104 2.6 Beam flange and web buckling
S-4 123.4 1.19 0.060 1.51⫻ 104 2.5 Strength failure of column flange
S-5 146.0 1.41 0.045 1.75⫻ 104 2.4 Beam flange and web buckling
S-6 137.4 1.33 0.040 1.58⫻ 104 2.2 Beam flange and web buckling
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diameter rods, and the column stub of the specimen was rigidly
clamped to the reaction frame by eight 30-mm-diameter Grade
8.8 bolts 共f y = 640 N / mm2, f u = 800 N / mm2兲. Lateral braces were
provided at the beam end connected to the loading frame to pre-
vent its out-of-plane buckling.
The instrumentation consisted of a linear variable displace-
ment transducer 共LVDT兲 to calculate the relative connection ro-
tation, two load cells installed in the hydraulic actuator and a jack
to measure the cyclic load and column axial force, and two dial
gages to inspect the base slip and the drift of reaction frame,
respectively. In addition, strain gages or rosettes were placed on
the end plate 共see Fig. 2兲, column flanges, and panel zone to
determine the stress distribution and to monitor the progress of
plasticity in the panel zone. The LVDT was placed on the ground
using a magnetic base such that the LVDT tip touched the beam
just above the beam top flange 400 mm away from the outer
surface of the end plate. The measured values of load, displace-
ment, and strain of all specimens were recorded by a data acqui-
sition device with a speed of 50 channels/ s, and were also
punched onto a paper tape device to provide backup.
Loading Sequence
First, the column of specimen was loaded to a 500 kN axial force
by the top jack corresponding to 20% of the yield load calculated
on the measured yield stress of 310 MPa. If the strain values of
each measurement point on the column flange are different, then
adjust the point of load application until the column is really
under uniform compression. Second, cyclic load was applied at
the beam tip. For the beginning two cycles, the load was applied
to 20 kN, the behavior of the connection was therefore anticipated
to be elastic. This pretest technique was employed to ensure
proper connection setup, welding, bolting, and to check the data
recording device for proper functioning. Two cycles of load were
then applied with 10 kN increments for the next stage load. This
process was repeated during the early phase of the test, and load
control was used to increment the cyclic load until the specimen
reached the yielding point. After that, the control was switched to
displacement control, and the displacement was incremented at
the yield displacement recorded, ey, at the yield point. This pro-
cess was repeated until either connection failure occurred or ex-
cessive declination of the loop was noticed. During the whole
test, the column axial force remained unchanged, which can simu-
late the actual working conditions of joints in the steel frame.
previously calibrated LVDT and dial gages were then placed on
their designed positions. Strain gages and rosettes were connected
to an automated data acquisition system to record and process the
data. After the bolts were tightened and the actuator was con-
nected, the load was applied following the loading history
described in the previous section, until connection failure or
excessive declination of the loop has occurred. The rotation and
moment of connection were recorded as the test continued.
Test Results and Analysis
Test Results
It was observed that the base slip and the drift of the reaction
frame were tiny during the whole test and therefore can be ne-
glected. Therefore, the recorded value of LVDT was the actual
displacement of the beam. A summary of experimental results is
given in Table 3, in which M max and M pb = maximum moment of
connections before the specimen failed and calculated plastic mo-
ment capacity of the beam, respectively; M max = load at the actua-
tor times the distance from the loading point to the end-plate face;
␪max, which is defined as LVDT displacement divided by the
length between the LVDT measure point and the end-plate
face, is the maximum connection rotation before failure occurred;
Rin = initial stiffness of connections; Ce = coefficient of energy dis-
sipation 共JGJ 101-96兲 共Ministry of Construction 1997兲, which is
determined based on the areas surrounded by the hysteretic loop
corresponding to maximum load, as shown in Fig. 4, defined as
共ABC兲area + 共CDA兲area
Ce = 共1兲
共OBE兲area + 共ODF兲area
For the purposes of discussion of test results, the connection
moment versus connection rotation hysteretic loops are illustrated
as needed. The connection rotations are plotted in radian and were

Testing Procedure
The same testing procedure was followed for all the test speci-
mens. Each specimen was assembled with all the bolts tightened
to their pretension load. Then, the actuator and jack with load
cells, which were previously calibrated, were installed. The Fig. 4. Definition of Ce

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Fig. 6. End-plate deformation of Specimen S-1

beam tension flange and the column flange, no bending up was

found in the outer part of the end plate. This was due to the
reduction of prying force by stiffeners.
With the increment of end-plate thickness for Specimen S-3
and S-5, the hysteretic loops exhibited stable and excellent char-
acteristics contrasted with Specimen S-2. M max and Ce exceeded
1.2M pb and 2, respectively. At higher load, severe buckling of
beam flange and web occurred 共Fig. 8兲, and the plastic hinge
Fig. 5. Moment-rotation hysteretic loops: 共a兲 S-1; 共b兲 S-2; 共c兲 S-3; actually formed in the beam. There were little gaps between the
共d兲 S-4; 共e兲 S-5; and 共f兲 S-6 end plate and the column flange at the end of the test. The failure
mode was changed to the plastic buckling of the beam from the
determined by dividing the recorded value of LVDT by 400 mm brittle fracture of connection welds. Although the end plate of
excluding the elastic effects of beam and column deformations. Specimen S-5 was 3 mm thicker than S-3, little difference was
The hysteretic loops obtained for six tests are presented in Fig. 5. found between their characteristics.
In comparison with Specimen S-5, all stiffeners of Specimen
S-4 were taken away from column web and end plate. Similar to
Hysteretic Behavior and Failure Mode Specimen S-5, S-4 showed superior hysteretic behavior through-
It is observed from Table 3 and Fig. 5 that the cyclic rotational out the test. However, with the increase of rotational capacity,
capacity of all connections ranges from 0.033 to 0.060 rad, more- the load carrying capacity and initial stiffness decreased by 15
over the difference of failure mode, maximum moment, and en- and 14% over Specimen S-5, and yielding of the specimen was
ergy dissipation capacity between specimens with diverse detail initiated in column flange and web. When subjected to excessive
construction is remarkable. load, the column flange was damaged, and M max was lower than
End-plate thickness of Specimen S-1 was underdesigned. In- 1.2M pb again.
elastic hysteretic response was first developed in the end plate,
gaps between the end plate near the beam tension flange and the
column flange cyclically appeared and disappeared, and the out-
board of the end plate turned upward due to prying force 共Fig. 6兲.
A cleavage crack at the toe of the weld between the end plate and
the beam flange appeared as the cyclic moments progressed. This
crack propagated through the whole weld in subsequent cycles,
and a slight pinching of the hysteretic loops can be observed in
Fig. 5共a兲. M max was merely 0.84M pb, and no inelastic action was
observed in beam and column. It was a typical lower ductility
failure for Specimen S-1, and the energy dissipation capacity was
quite lower.
The end plate of Specimen S-2 was reinforced by rib stiffen-
ers. Its failure mode was the same as S-1, but the crack originated
from the toe of the weld between the end-plate stiffener and the
beam flange 共Fig. 7兲, probably because of the stress concentra-
tion. With the presence of end-plate stiffeners, the hysteretic
behavior, especially M max and ␪max, evidently increased. M max
increased by 40% over Specimen S-1, and approached 1.2M pb.
Although there were still gaps between the end plate near the Fig. 7. Weld fracture of Specimen S-2

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 Table 4. Directions of Principal Stresses 共Degrees兲
Specimen ␣1 ␣2 ␣3 ␣4 ␣5 ␣6
S-1 39.8 53.4 53.6 39.1 — —
S-2 44.2 55.2 54.2 41.5 — —
S-3 40.6 54.1 53.4 36.6 — —
S-4 — — — — 78.2 75.4
S-5 43.4 55.3 54.7 37.2 — —
S-6 41.8 56.5 56.1 37.9 — —
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M uc 艌 1.2M pb 共2兲
where M uc = ultimate moment of connections based on the ulti-
mate stress of its materials. The above test results illustrated that
the overstrength rule and a factor of 1.2 are necessary and effec-
tive to achieve safe and ductile structures. It can avoid the unan-
ticipated failure and move the plastic hinge back to the beam
itself.

Stress Distribution in Plates

Fig. 8. Buckling of Specimen S-5
End-plate thickness of Specimen S-6 was overdesigned and
without stiffeners it was anticipated to have prominent hysteretic
behavior. Similar to Specimen S-5, the deterioration in both
strength and stiffness appeared after beam flange and web buck-
ling occurred, while all relative parameters to hysteretic behavior
were slightly lower than Specimen S-5 at the end of the test. This
is a phenomenon deserving of more attention. The traditional
point of view, the thicker the end plate, the better the behavior,
should be changed. Increasing the end-plate thickness in a certain
range may have positive effects; however, once exceeding the
range, negative effects may be brought to connections.
The basic rule, “overstrength rule,” which is extensively used
in practice, emphasizes designing connections able to resist inter-
nal force 共M , V , N兲 corresponding to the plastic moment of the
connected beams multiplied by an “overstrength factor” greater
than one. In design codes of most countries, it can be expressed as
follows:
According to the test data recorded by strain gages or rosettes
during tests, rules of stress distribution varied from detailed con-
struction. In an unstiffened column web such as Specimen S-4,
the direction of principal stress at the beam flange level was close
to the horizontal line 共see Fig. 9 and Table 4兲. In addition, the
transverse stress in the column flange between two transverse
tension bolts achieved yield stress earlier due to a lack of restric-
tion. It also limited the load capacity of the specimen and resulted
in the transverse bending of the end plate. However, the direction
of principal stress of all stiffened webs was close to 45° with the
column flange 共Fig. 9 and Table 4兲, i.e., the column web was
nearly subjected to pure shear. Meanwhile, the stiffeners limited
the flange as well as the end-plate deformation and participated in
transmitting the loads allowing higher load capacity. The trans-
verse stress in the end plate was tiny and could be neglected.
Vertical stress in the end plate at the region near beam flange
was highest. In thinner end plates whether stiffened or not such as
Specimens S-1 and S-2, clear yielding lines were formed in end
plates at the outer bolt line and the region near the beam flange.
The sign of vertical stress near bolts at both sides of the tension
beam flange was always reverse that of stress near the tension
beam flange, as shown in Fig. 10共a兲, in which the continuous line
and the dashed one denote the rules of elastic and elasto-plastic
stages, respectively, and f y⫽yield stress of the end plate. This
phenomenon was attributed to the prying force. For thicker end

Fig. 9. Directions of principal stresses in column web: 共a兲 stiffened; Fig. 10. Vertical stress distribution in end plate: 共a兲 thinner end plate;
共b兲 unstiffened 共b兲 thicker end plate

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 Table 5. M ypz 共kN m兲
Specimen S-1
Measured M ypz No yielding
Calculated M ypz 共␤ = 1兲 63
Measured M ypz/Calculated M ypz 共␤ = 1兲 — 1.21
Measured M ypz / M yb — 0.82
plates without stiffeners, such phenomenon disappeared in the
elastic stage and appeared again in the elasto-plastic stage
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关Fig. 10共b兲兴, while it almost essentially vanished in the thicker
end plate with stiffeners. In all specimens, the vertical stress in
the end plate near the outer bolts was larger than the inner ones,
while the difference of them near the outer and inner bolts be-
came small when the end plate was stiffened. Therefore a conclu-
sion can be drawn that the end-plate stiffener can increase the
stiffness of extended parts of the end plate and reduce the prying
force effectively.
Yielding Resistance of Panel Zone
Measured connection moments M ypz, which correspond to initial
yielding of the column panel zone for each specimen, are pre-
sented in Table 5. The panel zone of Specimen S-1 did not yield
due to the premature fracture of welds. M ypz can also be estimated
by the following equation:
M ypz = ␤共hc − tcf兲共hb − tbf兲tpz f y/冑3
where hc and hb = section heights of column and beam, respec-
tively; tcf, tbf, and tpz = thicknesses of column flange, beam flange,
and panel zone, respectively; f y = yield stress of panel zone; and
␤ = coefficient. The calculated M ypz with ␤ = 1 are also list in
Table 5. Based on this table, it can be noted that the actual values
of ␤ range from 1.2 to 1.5, and with the increment of end-plate
thickness or the presence of stiffeners, the value of ␤ became
larger. Except for Specimen S-5, the panel zone yielded prior to
the beam. The reason for this may be that Specimen S-5 had a
superthickness end plate.
Conclusions
Although elimination of stiffeners in such connections is favored
because of reduction of fabrication cost and simplification of
connection details, this paper showed that stiffeners have a re-
markable influence on the hysteretic behavior of joints, and the
following conclusions can be made: The stiffened connections
have higher load carrying and energy dissipation capacities be-
cause the stiffeners can change the mechanism of load transmis-
sion and ameliorate the restriction conditions. When the plate
thickness is thinner, stiffeners can also prevent the brittle fracture
of connections. Generally, two methods can enhance the load car-
rying capacity and the rigidity of extended end-plate connections
in practice. One is to increase the thickness of the end plate and
column web directly; the other is to set rib stiffeners for them.
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J. Struct. Eng., 2006, 132(9): 1352-1357
S-2 S-3 S-4 S-5 S-6
76 86 80 90 94
63 63 63 63 63
1.37 1.27 1.43 1.49
0.92 0.86 0.97 1.01
Based on a comparison of test results, the latter method is better
than the former. The Chinese specification 共CECS 102:2002兲 is
too conservative.
Because of the importance of end-plate connections and little
data on their cyclic behavior, further research of several pertinent
parameters discussed in this paper appears to be necessary.
Acknowledgments
The writers are grateful to the National Science Foundation of
The People’s Republic of China for supporting of this and related
researches. The generous assistance offered by Dr. Su Mingzhou
and Zhang Aishe during the course of the writing of this paper is
greatly appreciated. The writers are also most grateful to the
reviewers for their useful suggestions.
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