ABSTRACT
Very little guidance exists on the design of steel column base connections subjected to axial compression and biaxial flexure. In order to develop a design method, an experimental program of 32 tests to failure was carried out. The program was augmented with detailed finite element analyses that were calibrated with the experimental results. Very little concrete damage was observed and current design guidance for concrete bearing strength is very conservative. Increases in plate thickness, holding-down bolt diameter and axial force were found to increase the connection strength. Increases in loading angle from strong axis to weak axis bending were found to decrease connection strength. Furthermore, the plate thickness and holding-down bolt parameters were found to be interdependent.
