Component method based rotation performance and design method for the connection in ATLS modular house

Abstract The assembled-type light-steel (ATLS) modular house is an off-site prefabricated construction technique, which has been widely adopted for hotels, dormitories, schools and hospitals where repetitive units are preferred. This paper mainly presents the numerical and theoretical studies on the bending behavior and design method of the semi-rigid connection in ATLS modular house. Elaborated finite element model (FEM) was developed and its accuracy was validated by the good consistency between the experimental results and the FEM in terms of failure modes and load–displacement curves. Parameters including vertical load on the column, column thickness, bolt diameter, bolt length have been considered to conduct the parametric analysis to reveal their influence on the initial rotational stiffness, ultimate flexural capacity and M- θ model of the connection in ATLS modular house. The parametric analysis quantified the influence of each parameter on the initial rotational stiffness and the ultimate flexural capacity in different loading direction. Furthermore, theoretical analysis on the initial rotational stiffness and ultimate flexural capacity as well as the moment–rotation design model were performed based on the component method and the comparison between the theoretical value and finite element analysis demonstrates the reasonability of the theoretical analysis. Finally, the M- θ design model is proposed and validated to describe the semi-rigid characteristic of the connection in ATLS modular house, which will provide useful guidelines for the design of ATLS modular house.