ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Built Environ.
Sec. Computational Methods in Structural Engineering
Numerical Investigation of a Novel Steel Connection for Panelized Modular Houses
Provisionally accepted
- 1Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Canada
- 2United Arab Emirates University, Abu Dhabi, UAE, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
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Indigenous communities in Canada, particularly those in remote areas, face a persistent shortage of adequate housing. Modular construction offers a potential solution, yet challenges related to transportation and lifting limit its widespread adoption. This study proposes an innovative steel bolted connection using Hollow Structural Sections (HSS) to improve constructability and performance in modular housing. The connection was experimentally tested and validated using three-dimensional finite element models. A parametric study on one-dimensional and two-dimensional prototypes examined the influence of stiffeners, bolt arrangement, bolt number, and plate thickness on the connection's structural performance. The results showed that the AR1.5 bolt arrangement increased capacity through early bolt bearing but reduced ultimate rotation by 50%, whereas the AR0.6 arrangement shifted failure to the column due to local buckling. Increasing plate thickness from 10 mm to 15 mm increased capacity by up to 7% and ductility by 11%, while increasing the number of bolts from 6 to 10 improved capacity by up to 22% depending on the arrangement. The addition of a 10 mm stiffener reduced ultimate rotation by approximately 60% due to local buckling. These findings highlight the critical role of bolt configuration and reinforcement techniques in optimizing both strength and deformation capacity, providing guidance for designing efficient and durable modular housing connections.
Keywords: Panelized Modular Structures, Beam-column bolted connection, Hollow structural section, finite element model, Indigenous communities
Received: 07 Sep 2025; Accepted: 20 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Elshaer, Elhadary and Bediwy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ahmed Elshaer, aelshaer@lakeheadu.ca
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