• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Structure & Construction
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• v.34 no.12
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• pp.3-10
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• 2018

Recently, severe damage to domestic horticultural structures is frequently observed due to extreme climate effects. To minimize the structures' damage, a study on the structural stability of multi-span vinyl greenhouses is needed. This paper presents to measure the rotational stiffness of different connectors to improve the design capacities of the specification. The paper investigated fourteen types of the different connectors, which was commonly used in the multi-span greenhouses, and three different types of the connectors predicted to be under moment-connection were selected: i) T-clamp, ii) U-clamp, iii) C-clamp. Static loading tests for three different connectors were performed to measure the rotational stiffness. Additionally, the boundary condition for the structural design was proposed based on the experimental results of the rotational stiffness. One of three connectors, C-clamp had larger rotational stiffness than other connectors, and the experimental results presented the three connectors had boundary conditions; i) T-clamp was pinned-connection, ii) U-clamp was semi-rigid connection, iii) C-clamp was semi-rigid connection.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.87-94
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• 2021

The purpose of this paper is to improve the inappropriate analysis results when the end of the brace on braced frame is applied as pinned connection in practice. The stiffness of the gusset plate connection on the braced frame has the amount of between pinned and rigid connection, and the analysis model that applies the stiffness of the connection must be used for accurate performance evaluation. In this study, the stiffness of the gusset plate designed by the balanced design procedure are quantified, and applied to the analysis model to simulate the gusset plate connection. The proposed model was verified through nonlinear static analysis (pushover analysis) of SAP2000. The effect of the connection on the seismic performance of the braced frame was analyzed by comparing the proposed model and pinned model. As a result, it was confirmed that the performance of the braced frame was evaluated conservatively in practice, and the ductility was overestimated. Therefore, it is important to consider the connection for accurate and economical performance evaluation.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.53-69
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• 2023

The rotational stiffness of a semi-rigid beam-to-column connection plays an important role in the reduction of the second-order effects in the precast concrete skeletal frames. The aim of this study is to present a detailed nonlinear finite element study to reproduce the experimental response of a semi-rigid precast beam-to-column connection composed by corbel, dowel bar and continuity tie bars available in the literature. A parametric study was carried using four arrangements of the reinforcing tie bars in the connection, including high ratio of the continuity tie bars passing around the column in the cast-in-place concrete. The results from the parametric study were compared to analytical equations proposed to evaluate the secant rotational stiffness of beam-to-column connections. The good agreement with the experimental results was obtained, demonstrating that the finite element model can accurately predict the structural behaviour of the beam-to-column connection despite its complex geometric configuration. The secant rotational stiffness of the connection was good evaluated by the analytical model available in the literature for ratio of the continuity tie bars of up to 0.69%. Precast beam-to-column connection with a ratio of the continuity tie bars higher than 1.4% had the secant stiffness overestimated. Therefore, an adjustment coefficient for the effective depth of the crack at the end of the beam was proposed for the analytical model, which is a function of the ratio of the continuity tie bars.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.105-113
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• 2009

To improve braced frame performance, the connection strength, stiffness, and ductility must be directly considered in the frame design. The resistance of the connection must be designed to resist seismic loads and to help provide the required system ductility. In addition, the connection stiffness affects the dynamic response and the deformation demands on the structural members and connections. In this paper, current design models for gusset plate connections are reviewed and evaluated usingthe results of past experiments. Current models are still not sufficient to provide adequate connection design guidelines and the actual stress and strain states in the gusset plate are very nonlinear and highly complex. Design engineers want simple models with beam and column elements to make an approximate estimation of system and connection performance. The simplified design models are developed and evaluated to predict connection stiffness and system behavior. These models produce reasonably accurate and reliable estimation of connection stiffness.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.101-112
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• 2023

When a submerged floating tunnel is connected to the ground, there is a risk of stress concentration at the shore connection owing to the displacement imbalance caused by low confinement pressures in water and high confinement pressures in the ground. Here, the effects of the boundary condition and stiffness of the joints installed at the shore connection on the behaviors of a submerged floating tunnel and its shore connection were analyzed using a numerical method. The analysis results obtained with fixed and ground boundaries were similar due to the high stiffness of the ground boundary. However, the stability of the shore connection was found to be improved with the ground boundary as a small displacement was allowed at the boundary. The effect of the joint stiffness was evaluated by investigating the dynamic behavior of the submerged floating tunnel, the magnitude of the load acting on the bored tunnel, and the stress distribution at the shore connection. A lower joint stiffness was found to correspond to more effective relief of the stress concentration at the shore connection. However, it was confirmed that joints with low stiffness also increase the submerged floating tunnel displacement and decrease the frequency of the dynamic behavior, causing a risk of increased resonance when wave loads with low frequency are applied. Therefore, it is necessary to derive the optimal joint stiffness that can achieve both stress concentration relief and resonance prevention during the design of shore connections to secure their dynamic stability.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.311-320
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• 2006

This study has ben conducted to investigate the effect of the number of bolts on stiffness and strength of a double-angle connection and to propose two simplified models that can predict the initial stiffness and ultimate connection moment of a double-angle connection, respectively. In adition, we also aim to provide some basic reference data for structural designers to choose the most adequate prediction equation and to more precisely double-angle connection.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.419-433
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• 2021

In composite structures, shear connectors are crucial components to resist the relative slip between the steel and concrete, and thereby to achieve the composite actions. In the service stage, composite structures are usually in elastic state, so the elastic stiffness of the shear connection is a quite important parameter in the structural analysis of composite structures. Nevertheless, the existing studies mainly focus on the load-slip relationship rather than the tangent stiffness at the initial elastic stage. Furthermore, when composite beams subjected to torque or local load, shear connections are affected by both tensile force and shear force. However, the stiffness of shear connections under combined effects appears not to have been discussed hitherto. This paper investigates the initial elastic stiffness of stud connections under combined effects of biaxial forces. The initial expression and the relevant parameters are obtained by establishing a simplified analytical model of the stud connection. Afterwards, parametric finite element analysis is performed to investigate the effects of the relevant factors, including the stud length, stud diameter, elastic modulus of concrete, elastic modulus of steel and volume ratio of reinforcement. The feasibility of the proposed modelling has been proved by comparing with sufficient experimental tests. Based on the analytical analysis and the extensive numerical simulations, design equations for predicting the initial elastic stiffness of stud connections are proposed. The comparison between the equations and the data of finite element models demonstrates that the equations are accurate enough to serve for engineering communities.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.88 no.1
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• pp.43-52
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• 2023

This paper handles the results of an extensive parametric study on the rotational stiffness of the flexible base connection using ABAQUS program. The results of the parametric study show the relation between the applied moment and the relative rotation for 96 different base connections. The configurations of the studied connections considered different numbers, diameters, and spacing of the anchor bolts along with different thicknesses of the base plate to investigate the effect of these parameters on the rotational stiffness behavior. The results of the previous parametric research used through the whale optimization algorithm (WOA) to detect different equation formulation of the moment-rotation (M-Ɵ_r) equation to detect optimum equation simulates the general nonlinear rotational behavior of the flexible base connection considering all variables used in the parametric study. WOA is a relatively new promising algorithm, which is used in different types of optimization problems. For more verification, the classical genetic algorithm (GA) is used to make a comparison with WOA results. The results show that WOA is capable of getting an optimum equation of the M-Ɵ_r relation, which can be used to simulate the actual rotational stiffness of the flexible base connections. The rotational stiffness at H/150 can be calculated using WOA (1) method and be used as a design aid for engineering design.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.375-382
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• 2023

The H-shaped steel beam is popular due to its ease of manufacturing and connection to the column. This profile, which is used as a shallow beam, needs the high weak-axis bending stiffness and torsional stiffness to meet the overall stability. Achieving the local beam flange stability, bearing capacity, bending stiffness, and torsional requirements need a great thickness and width of the beam flange, which causes, which will cause more uneconomical structural design. So, the box-section beam is the ideal alternative. However, the current design specifications do not have design rules for the bolt-and-welded connection of the box-section beam and box-section column. The paper proposes a novel bolt-and-welded connection of the box-section beams and box-section columns based on a high-rise structural design scheme. Three connection models, BASE, WBF, and RBS, are analyzed under cyclic loading in ABAQUS software. The failure modes, hysteresis response, bearing capacity, ductility, plastic rotation angle, energy dissipation, and stiffness degradation of all models are determined and compared. Compared with the other two models, the model WBF exhibited excellent seismic performance, ductility, and plastic rotation ability. Finally, model WBF was chosen as the connection scheme used in the project design.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.133-142
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• 2014

Double split tee connection is a full strength-partial restrained connection that suitable for ordinary moment frame and special moment frame which demonstrates behavior characteristics depending on the stiffness ratio of columns and beams, changes in the geometric shape of the T-stub, number of fasteners and effect of panel zone. For the double split tee connection to ensure structurally safe behavior, it needs to exhibit sufficient strength, stiffness and ductile capacity. This study sought to investigate the effects of the moment-rotation angle relationship of the double split tee connection and to evaluate the initial rotational stiffness of the double split tee connection depending on changes in the geometric shape of the T-stub. To this end, two different double split tee connection specimens are experimented which designed to change geometric parameter values (${\alpha}^{\prime}$) of the T-stub, and a three-dimensional finite element analysis was performed.