Experimental Study on the Seismic Performance of Steel H-Shaped Beam-to-Column Connections

Abstract

In terms of the moment frame system of steel structures, early brittle fractures developed in the H-shaped beam-to-column connection during the Northridge and Kobe earthquakes, thereby indicating insufficient seismic performance of these components. In this study, experiments were conducted on two-side shear connections of web and rib plate reinforcements of the flanges on an H-shaped beam-to-column connection. According to the test results, the H-shaped beam-to-column connections with two-side shear connections of beam web and rib plate reinforcements of the flanges were superior to the existing connections in terms of initial stiffness, energy dissipation capacity, and plastic rotational capacity. The test values exceeded 4.2%, 0.027 rad, and 125% in terms of story drift ratio, total plastic rotation capacity, and full plastic moment of the beam, respectively. Accordingly, the proposed H-shaped beam-to-column connection showed better performance than that of the intermediate moment frame regarding seismic design.