• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.569-590
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• 2022

This paper presents a combined experimental and numerical study on stainless steel end-plate connections, with an emphasis placed on their ultimate behaviour and rotation capacity. In the experimental phase, six connection specimens made of austenitic and lean duplex stainless steels are tested under monotonic loads. The tests are specifically designed to examine the close-to-failure behaviour of the connections at large deformations. It is observed that the rotation capacity is closely related to fractures of the stainless steel bolts and end-plates. In the numerical phase, an advanced finite element model suitable for fracture simulation is developed. The incorporated constitutive and fracture models are calibrated based on the material tests of stainless steel bolts and plates. The developed finite element model exhibits a satisfactory accuracy in predicting the close-to-failure behaviour of the tested connections. Finally, the moment resistance and rotation capacity of stainless steel end-plate connections are assessed based on the experimental tests and numerical analyses.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.385-397
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• 2017

Currently, CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer) plate bonding is used quite extensively as a strengthening method. In this technique, a composite CFRP plate or sheet of relatively small thickness is bonded with an adhesion material to steel or concrete structure in order to improve its structural behavior and strength. The sheets or plates do not require much space and give a composite action between the adherents. In this study, the rotation capacity of CFRP-strengthened cold-formed steel (CFS) beams has been evaluated through numerical investigation. Studies on different structural levels have been performed. At the beam level, C-section has been adopted with different values of profile thickness, web height, and flange width. At the connection level, a web bolted moment resistant type of connection using through plate has been adopted. In web-bolted connections without CFRP strengthening, premature web buckling results in early loss of strength. Hence, CFRP sheets and plates with different mechanical properties and geometric configurations have been examined to delay web and flange buckling and to produce relatively high moment strength and rotation capacity. The numerical results reveal that CFRP strengthening may increase strength, initial stiffness, and rotation capacity when compared with the case without strengthening.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.715-723
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• 2007

A displacement-based seismic design procedure was proposed for mid-to-low-rise steel moment frames. The proposed method was totally different from the current R-factor approach in that it directly uses available connection rotation capacity as a primary design variable. To this end, the relationship between available connection rotation capacity and seismic response modification (R factor) was established first; this relationship has been a missing link in current ductility-based design practice. A step-by-step displacement-based iterative design procedure was then proposed and verified using inelastic dynamic analysis.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.45-55
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• 2015

The rotation capacity of the moment connections could significantly influence on the seismic performance of steel moment resisting frames. Current seismic provisions require that beam-to-column connections in Intermediate Moment Frames (IMF) should have a drift capacity as large as 0.02 radian. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the rotation capacity of moment connections on the seismic performance of high-rise IMFs. For this purpose, thirty- and forty-story high-rise IMFs were designed according to the current seismic design provisions. The seismic performance of designed model frames was evaluated according to FEMA P695. This study showed that the forty-story IMF satisfied the seismic performance objective specified in FEMA P695 when the rotation capacity of the connections was larger than 0.02. However, thirty-story IMFs satisfied the performance objective when the connection rotation capacity is larger than 0.03.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.73-89
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• 2016

The seismic performance of moment frames could vary according to the rotation capacity of their connections. The minimum rotation capacity of moment connections for steel intermediate moment frames (IMF) was defined as 0.02 radian in AISC 341-10. This study evaluated the seismic performance of IMF frames with connections having a rotation capacity of 0.02 radian. For this purpose, thirty IMFs were designed according to current seismic design provisions considering different design parameters such as the number of stories, span length, and seismic design categories. The procedure specified in FEMA P695 was used for conducting seismic performance evaluation. It was observed that the rotation capacity of 0.02 radian could not guarantee the satisfactory seismic performance of IMFs. This study also conducted seismic performance evaluation for IMFs with connections having the rotation capacity of 3% and ductile connections for proposing the minimum rotation capacity of IMF connections.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.92 no.2
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• pp.133-147
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• 2024

Composite beams of steel and concrete strengthened with fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP) may exhibit considerably enhanced flexural behaviour, but the combination of three materials with different characteristics and the various possible failure mechanisms that may govern performance make their analysis quite demanding. Previous studies provided significant insights into this problem and several methods were proposed for calculating flexural stiffness and strength, but these studies are restricted to the single member level of a simply supported composite beam section. However, the problem considerably changes when the beam is part of a frame system due to the degree of continuity provided by the surrounding structure, which represents the most common situation in practice. This paper explores the behaviour of semi-continuous FRP-strengthened composite beams, by considering the response characteristics of their end connections and their effects on overall performance. A novel analytical model is derived, which enables a step-by-step representation of the nonlinear relationship between an incremental mid-span design bending moment and corresponding connection rotations. After verification against finite element analyses, a parametric study is conducted which shows that the substantially increased bending moment resistance of FRP-strengthened composite beams can hardly be fully utilized due to a deficiency of corresponding large deformation capacity available in the connections. The extent to which the presence FRP strengthening can be exploited to enhance the beam flexural response depends on the interplay between various structural parameters, including the connection rotation capacity, the beam span, and the FRP modulus of elasticity and ultimate strength.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.141-159
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• 2016

Commonly in steel frames, steel beam and concrete slab are connected together by shear keys to work as a unit member which is called composite beam. When a composite beam is subjected to positive bending, flexural strength and stiffness of the beam can be increased due to "composite action". At the same time despite these advantages, composite action increases the strain at the beam bottom flange and it might affect beam plastic rotation capacity. This paper presents results of study on the rotation capacity of composite beam connected to Rectangular Hollow Section (RHS) column in the steel moment resisting frame buildings. Due to out-of-plane deformation of column flange, moment transfer efficiency of web connection is reduced and this results in reduction of beam plastic rotation capacity. In order to investigate the effects of width-to-thickness ratio (B/t) of RHS column on the rotation capacity of composite beam, cyclic loading tests were conducted on three full scale beam-to-column subassemblies. Detailed study on the different steel beam damages and concrete slab damages are presented. Experimental data showed the importance of this parameter of RHS column on the seismic behavior of composite beams. It is found that occurrence of severe concrete bearing crush at the face of RHS column of specimen with smaller width-to-thickness ratio resulted in considerable reduction on the rate of strain increase in the bottom flange. This behavior resulted in considerable improvement of rotation capacity of this specimen compared with composite and even bare steel beam connected to the RHS column with larger width-to-thickness ratio.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.617-624
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• 2008

Well-designed steel moment connections will undergo local buckling before they exhaust their available rotation capacity, and inelastic post-buckling deformation plays a major role in defining the connection rotation capacity. An approximate analytical method to model strength degradation and failure of beam plastic hinges due to local buckling and estimation of the seismic rotation capacity of fully restrained beam-column connections in special steel moment-resisting frames under both monotonic and cyclic loading conditions is proposed in this study. This method is based on the plastic mechanism and a yield line plastic hinge (YLPH) model whose geometry is determined using the shapes of the buckled plastic hinges observed in experiments. The proposed YLPH model was developed for the improved WUF-W and RBS connections and validated in comparison with experimental data. The effects of the beam section geometric parameters on the rotation capacity were discussed in the companion paper (parametric studies).

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1992.10a
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• pp.23-28
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• 1992

The ultimate capacity of end-plate connection is investigated through nonlinear finite element analysis. The example models are divided into stiffened case and unstiffened one. The refined finite element models are analyzed by utilizing a general purpose structural analysis computer program ADINA and the moment-rotation relationships of the connection are determined. The results are compared with the regression equation deduced by Krishnamurthy. It is planned to deduce a bilinear regression equation through a parametric study on various dimensions of the connection.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.23-32
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• 1999

Behavior of H-beam connections under cyclic loadings is investigated experimentally in this study. The purpose of this study is to study the effect of steel properties and coping shape on the hysteretic behavior of H-beam connections. Five beam-to-column connection specimens were fabricated and tested under cyclic loadings. The load-rotation curves of the beam connections were mainly obtained. Deformation capacity and energy dissipation capacity of the connections are compared each other. The connections fabricated from SS400 showed good deformability and energy dissipation capacity, but those from SM490 showed brittle fracture at the connection. The coping shape at the connections showed a little difference in cyclic behavior.