Abstract
Split tee connection is one of the basic pattern of beam-to-column connections which do'nt require to use welding. Tee size and column flange thickness in a connection are determined on the bases of required number of fastners and magnitude of bending stresses. However, heavy flange thickness of column and tees, in general, are required comparing with other parts, so it sometimes becomes a bottleneck at the design of this type of connection. It the previous tests used high strength bolts with initial tension, it has been recognized that the connected elements, flanges of tees and column, behaved to some extent as one element by existence of the friction between them. The fact above led to the suggestion that increasing of number of bolts and setting splice plates between tee and column would develop much more cooperation of the connected elements and would be an effective method for stiffening of this type of connection. This research started from such a point of view and aimed to improve split tee connection. The test results showed that the more number of bolts brought the more rigidity and that splice plates was effective to the stiffening of the connection.
