Correlation between stiffness of composite connections and adjacent composite beam

In the last years composite structures got more and more important for office as well as
high rise buildings. Many test programs where started to study the load bearing behavior
of these structures. This paper concentrates on the stiffness behaviour of composite
connections, the connecting link between beams or column and beam. The presented
analysing model aims in determining the stiffness of composite connections in a
practical manner. Therefore a new variable – the non-dimensional spring stiffness – is
introduced. The non-dimensional stiffness is a characteristic value for one kind of
composite connections, for example joints with endplates or joints with fins. The
determination of the non-dimensional stiffness is based on the evaluation of 59 test
results.