• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.269-280
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• 2017

In this study, seismic performance was evaluated for the exposed column-base plate weak-axis connections of small size steel structures through cyclic loading tests. The primary test parameters are the thickness of base plate, the presence of rib plates, the number of anchor bolts and embedment length of anchor bolts. To investigate the effect of bond performance of anchor bolts on the seismic performance of column-base plate connections, L-shaped round bars and thread bars were used as the hooked anchor bolts in the test specimens. Test results showed that bond performance of anchor bolts and the thickness of base plate significantly affect the structural performance and energy dissipation capacity. In particular, it was found that even if the requirements for minimum thickness of the base plate that is satisfied, the base plate can yield before the capacity of steel column reaches the plastic moment resulting in decreasing the structural performance of the connections. However, the proposed details of the connections might be considered as the partially restrained, that is semi-rigid connections. Consequently, the L-shaped thread anchor bolts is applicable in the exposed column-base plate weak-axis connections of small-size steel structures.