Comparative Study Between Shell and Solid Finite Element Models for Steel Joints Characterization

Solid and shell finite element models (FEM) are two commonly used possibilities to analyse the structural behaviour of steel joints. The choice between solid and shell models often comes down to a balance between computational resources and the level of detail required for the study. In this paper, a set of welded beam‐column joints with hot‐rolled open sections is studied using both modelling techniques. The joints' behaviour is assessed in terms of resistance and initial stiffness. An improved shell FEM is proposed. The results indicate that for the studied dataset, both techniques return comparable results. Hence, the use of shell FEM seems to be a possible alternative to solid FEM and can be efficiently used for the joint characterization.