Published research

Stainless-steel connections.

Explain bolted joint response through mechanics and nonlinear FE.

Supplied connection configurations from the collaborative structural study. Model representation is distinguished from test authorship. Publication · 10.3390/met13040753

Role: Co-author · equal contribution
Period: 2023
Methods: Abaqus · Analytical mechanics
Status: Published research

Decision supported

Choose a suitable representation of stainless-steel joint stiffness and post-elastic behaviour.

Numerical connection panels only; third-party test photograph excluded. Sarfarazi, Shamass, Mascolo, Della Corte & Guarracino, Metals 13 (2023), 753 · CC BY 4.0.

Published bolt-force / joint-rotation response comparison. Sarfarazi, Shamass, Mascolo, Della Corte & Guarracino, Metals 13 (2023), 753 · CC BY 4.0.

Engineering record

Scope, method and evidence.

Published collaborative research; referenced experimental work is credited to its source.

01The mechanics question

A beam-to-column connection influences frame stiffness, load transfer and rotational capacity. Stainless steel has a rounded nonlinear stress–strain response and substantial strain hardening, so a carbon-steel idealisation may obscure parts of the joint response.

The published study examines extended end-plate (EEP), flush end-plate (FEP) and top-and-seat angle cleat (TSAC) connections, combining a simplified analytical approach with nonlinear FE representation.

02Contribution and attribution

I am a co-author of the published paper with Rabee Shamass, Ida Mascolo, Gaetano Della Corte and Federico Guarracino. The article explicitly states equal contribution by all five authors.

This page describes the collaborative analytical and modelling work. Experimental geometry, material data and test response used as references are credited in the article; the tests are not presented as experiments personally performed by me. Related thesis files and unpublished extensions are not given the status of this published paper.

03How the behaviour was represented

The analytical investigation considers the component method and a pseudo-plastic moment resistance formulation using post-elastic secant stiffness. The FE model represents nonlinear material behaviour, large deformation, contact and the interaction of joint components.

Published loading sketch: 1500 mm column and beam loaded 1470 mm from the column flange. — Figure 9, cropped to the loading sketch, from Sarfarazi, Shamass, Mascolo, Della Corte and Guarracino, *Metals* 13 (2023), 753. © 2023 the authors; CC BY 4.0. Original article. Open the figure for a larger view.

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Published FE model definition
Aspect	Representation reported in the article
Geometry and loading	1500 mm beam and column; monotonic vertical beam load 1470 mm from the column flange; out-of-plane deformation constrained.
Restraints	Fixed column base and restrained horizontal displacement at the column top in the loading plane.
Elements and mesh	S4R shell elements; mesh study over 2–40 mm, with 5 mm in high-stress regions and 20 mm elsewhere.
Connections and contact	Weld ties, Cartesian bolt elements, hard normal contact and tangential penalty friction coefficient 0.3.
Material response	Ramberg–Osgood-based stainless-steel description with reported measured properties.

04Evidence and interpretation

The article compares moment–rotation relationships and resistance estimates with credited experimental reference data. It also examines predicted mechanisms and the ability of a numerical representation to reproduce joint behaviour.

Initial stiffness, post-elastic resistance and rotational capacity are separate quantities. A model that represents one satisfactorily does not automatically establish the others. The comparison is used to interrogate the material idealisation and connection mechanisms within the tested configurations.

The published work argues for more suitable capacity models for stainless-steel joints. This portfolio does not turn that research conclusion into a claim that a design standard has been changed or that a general commercial improvement has been demonstrated.

05Published source and limits

Some Considerations on the Behaviour of Bolted Stainless-Steel Beam-to-Column Connections: A Simplified Analytical Approach. Metals 2023, 13, 753.

Read the open-access article · Full publication record

The scope is the connection arrangements, properties, restraint and loading assumptions reported in the study. It does not establish universal applicability, fatigue/seismic qualification or an approved design for a client’s structure.

06Related engineering work

Structural Analysis & FE Modelling applies mechanics and model interpretation to a defined engineering question.

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Research supporting this project