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For the past several decades, a codified design of steel connections in civil-engineering has been based on the component approach. For a very common end-plate connection, a tension component, named T-stub, usually dictates the connections’ behavior. This T-stub element is greatly investigated in the configuration with two bolts in a row, but the configuration with four bolts in a row is usually neglected, both in the studies and codes. This paper presents an experimental investigation of T-stub elements and important aspects of their numerical modeling. Special attention is dedicated to the material testing and modeling, since all of the tests were performed until bolt fracture. Uniaxial tests of steel specimens were performed using extensometers, strain gauges, and Aramis system, while the bolt material is additionally tested by microscopic examination and hardness testing. In order to obtain satisfactory calibration of numerical models developed in Abaqus, knowing material parameters including damage initiation and propagation is crucial. Several iterative numerical-experimental procedures for obtaining the true stress-strain curves are outlined and compared, along with the well-known Bridgman method. The advantages of using Aramis system in calibrating numerical model, for both material and assembly are demonstrated. In the end, comparisons of numerical and experimental behavior curves are presented and satisfactory results are obtained. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.