Finite Element Analysis of Joints, Comparison of Results with the Component Method According to EN 1993‐1‐8:2005

The current standards are based on the well‐known component method for the design of steel structure connections. This method proposes to analyse the joints as a set of more basic components. Its main drawback is the difficulty in extrapolating the method to perform the analysis of complex joints. As an alternative, it is possible to test the joints in the laboratory or to carry out finite element modelling. The purpose of this study is to compare the strength obtained on the basis of the Eurocode 3 criteria with the strength obtained from finite element models of two‐dimensional elements in order to validate a model which, a priori, is less accurate than the three‐dimensional element model.