Design of I-Beam to Box-Column Connections Stiffened Externally

This paper is concerned with I-beam to box-column connections stiffened externally. A design method to determine the dimensions of T-stiffeners is proposed. Connections of I-beams and box columns for a wide range of dimensions were studied by the finite-element method and found to satisfy the basic design criteria for a moment connection. The Ramberg-Osgood function was used to curve-fit the moment-rotation curves based on the geometric parameters of the connections and the results are found to agree well with those from the finite-element analyses. Finally, the design procedure and the curve-fitting parameters were compared with the experimental results of a four-way connection tested to failure.