Numerical Analysis of Cold-formed Steel Beam-to-Column Connection with Lightweight Concrete Slab

Indonesia has widely used cold-formed steel (CFS) for construction. It could be used as a purlin, roof truss, deck, or storage rack. CFS has a different behavior with concrete and timber. CFS material could be recycled, less waste, controlled quality, and non-combustible. For steel structures, the connections are designed as pin, partial strength, or full strength based on the configuration of the connections. This paper aims to investigate the structural behavior of composite connections by combining CFS as the beam-column elements cast with slabs designed with lightweight concrete, using both theoretical and numerical analysis methods. Four specimens are presented, comprised of two non-composite specimens and two composite specimens. The configuration of the proposed composite connection with a stiffener plate is added to the column web to prevent the failure of the column element. The theoretical analysis is based on the Eurocode 3 standard, while the numerical analysis is based on Solid-Work program software. The results show that the non-composite specimen failed at the beam bolt hole in the tension zone, and the composite specimen failed at the bottom beam flange in the compression zone. Based on theoretical analysis, the specimen with a stiffener plate has higher stiffness than the specimen without a stiffener plate. Based on numerical analysis, a specimen with an additional stiffener plate has a higher moment resistance. The composite specimen has a higher moment capacity than the non-composite specimen due to the contribution of steel reinforcement at the concrete slab.