Experimental Evaluation of Plate-Reinforced Steel Moment-Resisting Connections
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 128, Issue 4
Abstract
Five cover-plate and five flange-plate single-sided steel moment-resisting beam–column assemblies were tested at full scale. Grade 50 steel was used for the columns, the beams, and all reinforcing plates. The procedures of FEMA 267A were used to design and detail the connections that included rectangular-, trapezoidal-, and swallowtail-shaped reinforcing plates. Cyclic and near-field loading histories were used to test the connections. None of the ten connections failed in a brittle manner; the strength of each connection degraded slowly due to local buckling of the beam web and flanges. The maximum beam plastic hinge rotations ranged between 2.3 and 3.9% rad. The cover-plate and flange-plate connections performed equally well but neither connection was subjected to large plastic strains at the face of the column. The performance of the tested plate-reinforced connections was best when rectangular reinforcing plates and three-sided fillet welds joining the reinforcing plate to the beam flange were used. Bracing of the beam bottom flange outside the plastic hinge zone to delay lateral-torsional buckling did not produce any significant improvement in connection hysteresis. Increased beam web compactness (smaller height to thickness) delayed the loss of strength and stiffness in the beam–column connection.
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References
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Copyright
Copyright © 2002 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 20, 2000
Accepted: Mar 14, 2001
Published online: Apr 1, 2002
Published in print: Apr 2002
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