OPTIMAL DESIGN OF BEAM-COLUMN CONNECTIONS OF PLANE STEEL FRAMES USING THE COMPONENT METHOD

Abstract

THIS PAPER PRESENTS A METHODOLOGY FOR OPTIMIZATION OF BEAM-COLUMN CONNECTIONS OF PLANE STEEL FRAMES. THE OBJECTIVE IS TO OBTAIN BEAM-COLUMN CONNECTIONS MECHANICALLY MORE EFFICIENT AND WITH MINIMUM COST BY DETERMINATION OF THE OPTIMAL DIMENSIONS THE COMPONENTS OF THE CONNECTION; SATISFYING MECHANICAL CONSTRAINTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE BENDING MOMENT AND THE ROTATIONAL STIFFNESS OF THE CONNECTION, HOWEVER, WITHOUT COMPROMISING ITS SAFETY AND INTEGRITY. MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM LIMITS OF GEOMETRIC PARAMETERS ARE CONSIDERED, ACCORDING TO CURRENT REGULATIONS. COMPUTATIONAL CODES WERE DEVELOPED TO CALCULATE THE BENDING MOMENT AND THE ROTATIONAL STIFFNESS OF THE CONNECTION USING THE "METHOD OF COMPONENTS" OF EUROCODE 3. INITIALLY, IT WAS DEVEL-OPED A DIGITAL DATABASE WITH STRUCTURAL PROFILES, STEEL PLATES AND COMMERCIAL BOLTS OBTAINED FROM CATALOGS OF MANUFACTURERS, WITH AUTOMATIC ACCESS OF THE DATA BY THE COMPUTATIONAL MODULES OF STRUC-TURAL ANALYSIS AND OPTIMIZATION. IN THE OPTIMIZATION MODEL, IS ADOPT-ED THE CONNECTION WITH EXTENDED END PLATE WITHOUT STIFFENERS, THE DESIGN VARIABLES ARE THE DIMENSIONS AND THE THICKNESS OF THE END PLATE, THE DIAMETER AND THE LOCATION OF THE BOLTS. IN THE OPTIMIZATION PROCESS, IN THE SEARCH FOR GLOBAL MINIMUM OF THE PROBLEM WE USE GENETIC ALGORITHMS WITH CONTINUOUS AND DISCRETE VARIABLES, WITH THE DISCRETE VARIABLES BEING ASSOCIATED TO THE DATABASE. IN THIS WAY, THIS PAPER PRESENTS A COMPUTATIONAL TOOL DEVELOPED INTEGRALLY IN MATLAB® ENVIRONMENT FOR ANALYSIS AND OPTIMAL DESIGN OF BEAM-COLUMN CONNECTIONS FOR PLANE STEEL FRAMES. ARE PRESENT APPLICATIONS THAT SHOW QUITE SATISFACTORY RESULTS WHEN COMPARED WITH RESULTS AVAILABLE IN THE LITERATURE.