Numerical investigations of contact behavior in beam to column end plate connections

Beam-to-column connections with end plates exhibit complex interfacial behavior during the loading phase. The contact surfaces evolve progressively into three distinct zones: adherent, slipping, and separated. However, the precise delimitation of these zones remains a challenge because relevant techniques seem specifically insufficient. Our developments using a discrete formulation highlighted the numerical difficulties related to this delimitation. However, a comprehensive characterization of the evolution of these zones was made possible by adding additional kinematic conditions established a posteriori and compared to a detachment threshold whose choice is based on numerically observed similarities. Subsequently, the influence of certain important parameters on the detachment rate was estimated.