• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.16 no.1 s.68
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• pp.113-121
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• 2004

A test program was conducted on full-scale steel moment connections constructed using a T-stiffener. In the T-stiffener connection, the beam-to-column connection was reinforced with the horizontal and vertical element of the T-stiffener to resist moment under severe cyclic loads. A total of five specimens were tested in this study together with a concrete-filled tubular(CFT) column(${\sqsubset}-500{\times}500{\times}12$) and a steel beam($H-506{\times}201{\times}11{\times}19$). For the specimens, the T-stiffener was combined with RBS (also known as "Dog-bone") detail or Horizontal Element Hole(HEH) detail constructed to enhance deformation capacity. The test program showed excellent seismic performance for specimens constructed with an RBS or an HEH. except the specimens had brittle failure of VE. The test results also showed that the connections all developed maximum moments at the face of the column. Such moments were at least 15% and as much as 36% larger than the plastic moment capacity of the beam. based on the actual yield stress of the beam steel.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.03a
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• pp.180-190
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• 2006

Effects of panel zone (PZ) strength on cyclic seismic performance of the RBS connections was studied based on the validated finite element analysis. High-profile cyclic correlation of finite element model with the full-scale test results based on the material and geometric nonlinear post-buckling analysis was among the most significant consideration in this study. Numerical response results as affected by the panel zone strength reproduced the experimentally observed results quite reasonably. The finite element modeling capability of this study can be used to supplement or to replace in part the costly full-scale connection testing.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2002.03a
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• pp.306-316
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• 2002

This paper summarizes the results of full-scale cyclic seismic testing on four RBS (reduced beam section) steel moment connections. Key test variables were web bolting vs. welding and strong vs. medium PZ (panel zone) strength. The specimen with medium PZ strength was specially designed to mobilize energy dissipation from both the PZ and RBS region in a balanced way; the aim was to reduce the requirement of expensive doubler plates. Both strong and medium PZ specimens with web-welding were able to provide sufficient connection rotation capacity required of special moment frames, whereas specimens with web-bolting showed inferior performance due to the premature brittle fracture of the beam flange across the weld access hole. In contrast to the case of web-welded specimens, the web-bolted specimens could not transfer the actual plastic moment of the original (or unreduced) beam section to the column. If a quality welding for the beam-to-column joint is made as in this study, the fracture-prone area tends to move into the beam flange base metal within the weld access hole. Analytical study was also conducted to understand the observed base metal fracture from the engineering mechanics point of view.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.271-280
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• 2010

This study was programmed to fabricate a beam-to-column connection that is limited to a steel-welded moment connection with full-scale members, using SN steel. A cyclic seismic test was conducted of the nine specimens that were fabricated by choosing the test variable for the weld access hole geometry, connection design method, and RBS. From the test results, failure modes, the moment-drift behavior, and the strain distribution were provided. From the specimen material properties, the beam's nominal plastic flexural capacity and classified qualified connection as a special moment flame were calculated. By analyzing the skeleton part and the baushinger part, a range of strength-raising effects, and deformation ratios were provided, with which the seismic performance of the specimens were evaluated. The test results showed that the specimens eliminated their weld access holes that demonstrated higher seismic performance than the specimens' existing weld access holes, and that the WUF-W connection that was reinforced by the supplemental fillet weld around the shear tap that was fastened by five bolts demonstrated superior seismic performance.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.59-69
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• 2006

This paper presents test results on reduced beam section (RBS)program addressed panel zone (PZ) strength as the key variables. PZ strength has been much debated issue for several decades. A desirable range of PZ strength has not yet been proposed despite the fact that a significant amount of RBS test data is available. Test results from this study and by others showed that panel zones could easily develop a plastic rotation of 0.01 radian without causing distress to the beam flange groove welds. At this deformation level, the amount of beam distortion (i.e., buckling) was about one half that developed in strong PZ specimens. A criterion for a balanced PZ strength that improves the plastic rotation capacity while reducing the amount of beam buckling is proposed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.337-353
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• 2018

In previous weak-axis moment connection tests, brittle fracture always initiated near the edge of the beam flange groove weld due to force flow towards the stiffer column flanges, which is the opposite pattern as strong-axis moment connections. As part of the China NSFC (51278061) study, this paper tested two full-scale novel weak-axis reduced beam section moment connections, including one exterior frame connection specimen SJ-1 under beam end monotonic loading and one interior frame joint specimen SJ-2 under column top cyclic loading. Test results showed that these two specimens were able to satisfy the demands of FEMA-267 (1995) or ANSI/AISC 341-10 (2010) without experiencing brittle fracture. A parametric analysis using the finite element software ABAQUS was carried out to better understand the cyclic performance of the novel weak-axis reduced beam section moment connections, and the influence of the distance between skin plate and reduced beam section, a, the length of the reduced beam section, b, and the cutting depth of the reduced beam section, c, on the cyclic performance was analyzed. It was found that increasing three parametric values reasonably is beneficial to forming beam plastic hinges, and increasing the parameter a is conducive to reducing stress concentration of beam flange groove welds while increasing the parameters b and c can only reduce the peak stress of beam flange groove welds. The rules recommended by FEMA350 (2000) are suitable for designing the proposed weak-axis RBS moment connection, and a proven calculation formulation is given to determine the thickness of skin plate, the key components in the proposed weak-axis connections. Based on the experimental and numerical results, a design procedure for the proposed weak-axis RBS moment connections was developed.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.11 no.2 s.54
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• pp.11-17
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• 2007

In current seismic design practice, the response modification factor (R-factor) is used as a factor to reduce the elastic base shear demand to the design force level. As is well-known, the R-factor is a committee-consensus factor and, as such, highly qualitative and empirical. The relationship between the R-factor and the connection rotation capacity available in a particular structural system has remained a missing link. In this paper, a rational procedure to evaluate the R-factor is proposed. To this end, the relationship between the available connection rotation capacity and the R-factor is defined and quantified using nonlinear pushover analysis. An RRS steel frame designed according to IBC 2000 was used to illustrate and verify the proposed procedure. Nonlinear time history analysis results indicated that the R-factor definition proposed in this study is generally conservative from design perspective.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.445-454
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• 2008

Based on previous research on steel moment connections, experimental and analytical results showed that the deformation capacity was poor in specimens using RHS columns and with conventional weld access holes and strain concentration at the end of beam is influenced by the efficiency in transmitting the moment in the web of beam through the beam-to-column joint. This paper is focused on the retrofitting of pre-Kobe steel moment frame connections using a stiffened RBS and a welded horizontal stiffener. These retrofitting methods were considered only in beam bottom flange. A parametric study was performed using nonlinear finite element analysis to elucidate and improve the retrofit methods of connections.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.529-537
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• 2008

The objective of this paper is to propose retrofit design methods of theRHS column-to-H beam connections with floor slabs. Referring to previous studies on the retrofitting of moment connections, it is clear that connections retrofitted with a stiffened RBS (SR) or a lengthened horizontal stiffener (LH) has an effect on decreasing the stress/strain concentration. A new design procedure using these two retrofitting methods was thus presented. In addition, this paper addressed various design or detailing options and recommended a procedure for designing the improved retrofitting method of steel moment connections. Finally, a pilot test was conducted to verify the design procedure.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.183-196
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• 2022

Reduced beam section (RBS) moment connections used in special moment resisting frames are currently limited to beam sections that are not larger than nominal depths of 920 mm, weight of 447 kg/m and flange thickness of 44 mm. Due to the higher demand for structural components with jumbo sections, which can potentially be applied in the transfer girders in long-span building structures, the newly available steel heavy members are promising. To address this issue, advanced numerical models are developed to fully evaluate the distribution of stresses and concentrations of plastic strains for such jumbo RBS connections. This paper first presents a brief overview of an experimental study on four specimens with large beam and column sections. Then, a numerical model that includes initial imperfections, residual stresses, geometric nonlinearity, and explicitly modeled welds is presented. The model is used to further explore the behavior of the test specimens, including distribution of stresses, distribution of plastic strains, stress triaxiality and potential for fracture. The results reveal that the stresses are highly non-uniform across the beam flange and, similarly, the plastic strains concentrate at the extreme fiber of the bottom flange. However, neither of these phenomena, which are primarily a function of beam flange thickness, is reflected in current design procedures.