Global Seismic Performance of Steel Moment Resisting Frames With Different Connection Details

Abstract eng:
The 1994 Northridge Earthquake highlighted the unacceptable performance of common connection details for moment resisting frames and led to many new details being developed. These include connections that have now been recommended by codes worldwide because of their demonstrated ductility capacity. The performance of these connections have been verified by researchers in component tests; however, these tests have also demonstrated differing hysteretic behavior for each detail. There is relatively little information available on how these differences affect the global response. Considering that the cost in material, labour, and erection time may vary for these connections, it is important to understand the impact that the choice of connection detail has on the overall system performance. This paper examines the influence of four different connection details on the global performance of an eightstorey moment resisting frame. Each connection is modeled in OpenSees using nonlinear elements that capture cyclic deterioration, and is calibrated using available experimental data. The global performance of the steel frame using each connection is evaluated under seven ground motions at incremental amplifications above and below the design basis earthquake, using the peak interstorey drifts and connection rotation demands as the primary engineering design parameters for evaluating the frame performance. During the majority of ground motions, the difference in performance between connections is small. Column hinging is observed in most frames, resulting in failures that are independent of the beam connection type. However, beam connections with a more pinched hysteretic response lead to a reduction in collapse performance for certain ground motions.

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