Seismic evaluation of reduced beam section frames considering connection flexibility

Abstract

SUMMARY In the present article, the seismic performance of frames with reduced beam section (RBS) connections is evaluated. A key purpose of this study is the inclusion of connections flexibility in the seismic performance of RBS frames. Almost in every research projects carried out on seismic performance and design of RBS frames, the beam‐to‐column connection is typically assumed as fully rigid. The results of nonlinear finite element analysis performed on investigating the local performance of RBS connection reveal that they are within the American Institute of Steel Construction‐defined semirigid connections. Three building frames, including 4, 8 and 16 stories considering the semirigid connection as well as fully rigid connection, are considered. A numerical study of the overall seismic response of the building frames subjected to near as well as far field earthquake ground motions using nonlinear static and/or nonlinear dynamic analysis is presented. Results in terms of inter‐story drifts, total drifts, story shears and shear deformation in panel zone indicate that overlooking the flexibility of beam‐to‐column connections may lead to erroneous conclusions and unsafe seismic behavior that subsequently become significant in some cases. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Pushover Analysis of Steel Seismic Resistant Frames with Reduced Web Section and Reduced Beam Section Connections

“…The 4-, 8-and 16-storey frames presented in this paper have become a benchmark for the validation of pushover analyses (Ghassemieh and Kiani, 2012;Kildashti et al, 2012), which this study will similarly validate against. The three MRFs are designed according to American design code and consequently use American beam and column sections.…”

“…Previously, RBSs have been studied in steel frames in research presented by Kildashti et al (2012) and Ghassemieh and Kiani (2012), finding RBSs reduced inter-storey drifts in the lower storeys of multistorey structures, as well as reducing the overall capacity curve of the frames.…”

“…Figure 5 | Elevation of 4-, 8-, and 16-storey frames to be used in pushover analyses (Ghassemieh and Kiani, 2012). …”

“…Previous studies of RBSs (Jin and El-Tawil, 2004;Ghassemieh and Kiani, 2012;Kildashti et al, 2012) have used three steel MRFs of varying height; 4-, 8-, and 16-storey. This study will use these frames to validate results against, and then further develop the frames to incorporate RWSs.…”

“…Pachoumis et al (2009) established that it is unsuitable to use codes developed for American sections to design European sections, due to the inherent differences in section geometry. To support this, Sofias et al (2014) further investigated RBSs with European sections to identify the behavior of such Figure 6 | Plan view of 4-, 8-, and 16-storey frame to be used in pushover analyses (Ghassemieh and Kiani, 2012) reproduced with permission from the copyright holder. connections and establish relationships specific to these sections.…”