Large beam‐to‐column steel joint for the Dune Neutrino Experiment: experimental and numerical insights.

Abstract The new DUNE experimental facility for the study of neutrinos, hosted by the U.S. Fermilab, includes a massive steel cage fabricated out of S460 HL1100M profiles, where the corner joint between beams and columns is solved with a bolted flushed end plate. Although this joint typology is well described in the Eurocode, the size and internal forces of this case are out of the common experimental range. Thus, a real‐scale test of the joint has been carried out at the University of Coimbra. The results were used to validate high‐quality FEA models, which accurately reproduced the behavior and allowed further insight into the joint component characterization. Comparison with the Eurocode design values show a good agreement, validating the application of the component method to very large joints.