TY - JOUR N2 - Aluminum profiles play an important role in civil engineering (facades, walls with windows) as well as in mechanical engineering (production lines, constructions of 3D printers and plotters). To ensure quick assembly, disassembly or changed the dimensions of constructions it is not possible to use such methods as welding, adhesive or riveting joints. The solution may be to use the so-called “popular lock”. It is a mechanism, the closure of which is caused by tightening of the conical screw, joining the “T” profile in the node. In order to properly design using the presented type of connection, it is necessary to know its strength and stiffness both in simple and complex loads states, also including imperfections. In the literature there is no information about the operation of the construction node with the so-called “popular lock”. The paper presents the results of experimental tests for connections subjected to uniaxial tensile test, paying special attention to the defects that may appear during the assembly. In the next step, a 3D solid connection model was created. Numerical simulations were performed in the Abaqus / Explicite program for both uniaxial tensile test and bending tests in two planes. Limit values of loads above which there is a plastic deformation of the material were determined. Determination of stiffness and strength of a single node allowed to make a simplified connector model. Using the numerical model, the analysis was performed taking into account the influence of imperfections on the work of the entire connection. L1 - http://www.journals.pan.pl/Content/110170/PDF/AMM-2019-1-48-Sadowski.pdf L2 - http://www.journals.pan.pl/Content/110170 PY - 2019 IS - No 1 EP - 346 DO - 10.24425/amm.2019.126257 KW - bolt-channel KW - numerical simulation KW - popular lock KW - aluminium profile A1 - Golewski, P. A1 - Sadowski, T. PB - Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Science of Polish Academy of Sciences PB - Committee of Materials Engineering and Metallurgy of Polish Academy of Sciences VL - vol. 64 DA - 2019.03.14 T1 - Numerical and laboratory tests of aluminum profile connection using the “popular lock” SP - 339 UR - http://www.journals.pan.pl/dlibra/publication/edition/110170 T2 - Archives of Metallurgy and Materials ER -