Tension performance of joint made in cold-formed square tube with self-tapping screw connections

The tension behavior of cold-formed square tube (CFST) screw connections was investigated experimentally and numerically. Ten test specimens were fabricated from the square tubes connected by external steel plates and internal tube applying self-tapping screws such that the number of screws was varied. In addition, the mechanical properties of the single-screw connections were obtained through single shear tests. Experimental results revealed that an increase in the number of screws led to higher bearing capacity and stiffness in the specimens. Shear failure of the screws was observed as the primary failure mode. When the number of the screws was equal in both types of the specimens, those with the internal tube exhibited superior tensile behavior than the ones with external steel plates. Subsequently, finite element (FE) models of the test specimens were developed. Upon validation of the test results, an extensive parametric study was conducted to further examine the influence of the design parameters on the tensile behavior of the CFST screw connections. Variation of the arrangement of screws, wall thickness of steel plates and their strength had only a minor influence on the tension behavior, and steel strength had little influence on the tension behavior and the number, spacing, and diameter of the screws were the key parameters affecting the tension behavior of the CFST screw connections. Based on the test results and FE analyses, the existing calculation method was modified, and a formula for calculating the tensile bearing capacity of the CFST screw connections was obtained. Comparison with the results indicate that the formula was conservative and reliable for determining the tensile capacity of CFST screw connections.