Cyclic performance of steel moment-resisting connections with reduced beam

sections  experimental analysis and finite element model simulation

D.T. Pachoumis, E.G. Galoussis, C.N. Kalfas, I.Z. Efthimiou
Steel Structures Laboratory, School of Civil Engineering, Democritus University
of Thrace, Xanthi, 67100, Greece
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 13 May 2009
Received in revised form
9 April 2010
Accepted 28 April 2010
Available online 16 June 2010
Keywords:
Reduced beam section connection
Dogbone
Moment-resisting connection
Cyclic loading
Finite element analysis
a b s t r a c t
Reduced beam section (RBS) moment-resisting connections have been developed in o
rder to provide a
highly ductile response and reliable performance. Recommendations for the design
and detailing of the
RBS member were prescribed in EC8, Part 3. However, the effectiveness of these r
ecommendations for
a European profile is dubious, due to limited existing data from European resear
ch. An experimental
program was performed in order to evaluate the proposed values of the geometrica
l characteristics of the
RBS, and the results are presented in the present paper. Two full-scale subassem
blages were tested under
cyclic loading and the results are compared with those obtained from the theoret
ical model, using the
finite element method. The analysis confirms the need for readjustment of the ge
ometrical characteristics
of the RBS in order to apply to European profiles.
' 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
The unexpected local brittle damage of beam-to-column connections of steel moment-resisting frames in the Northridge (1994)
and Kobe (1995) earthquakes generated concerns regarding the reliability of the current design practise and detailing of connections.
Rigorous post-earthquake investigations have revealed many factors contributing to the failure. The high stress concentration at
the welded web and flanges and the vulnerability of the connection to the large ductility demand are considered to be two critical
factors causing such failures. A natural way to solve the problem
is to reduce the ductility demand on the welded areas and alleviate the stress concentration level. Numerous solutions to the moment frame connection problem have been proposed [14], many
of which have been shown to exhibit satisfactory levels of ductility
in numerous tests.
One of these is the reduced beam section (RBS) configuration.
Portions of the beam flanges are trimmed away in the region adjacent to the beam-to-column connection. The RBS can be viewed
as a ductile fuse that forces the formation of the plastic hinge away
from the joint so that much of ductility demand on beams may result from the RBS instead of the welded beam-to-column interface.
Extensive experimental [57] and analytical [810] projects have
been conducted proving the effectiveness of this solution. Appar-

ently, the efficiency of the RBS in mitigating the problems relies on

 Corresponding author. Tel.: +30 6977135683; fax: +30 2541079821.
E-mail address: dpachoum@civil.duth.gr (D.T. Pachoumis).
the proper design of the RBS, which includes the shape, the location
and flange reduction ratio (the reduced flange area over the original flange area) of the RBS. Various shaped cutouts were proposed
(constant, tapered or radius cut) to reduce the cross-sectional
area. Experimental investigations have demonstrated that a curved
RBS behaves with the highest rotational capacity with respect to
polyline-shaped solutions [11]. The location of the RBS with a given
flange reduction ratio may alter its efficiency. Besides, an RBS with
small reduction in beam flanges might do little to reduce the stress
in the column faces. However, an RBS with excessive reduction in
the beam flanges may result in premature lateraltorsional buckling of the RBS.
Some design parameters are recommended by FEMA 350 [1]
and FEMA 351 [12] regarding the location and reduction rate of
an RBS, based on the local performance of tested beam-to-column
assemblies. In Europe, also, following the spirit of the abovementioned recommendations, in EC8, Part 3 [13] designs of such
type of connection are presented. The proposals for the radius cut
from FEMA 350, which prequalified this shape, and EC8, Part 3 are
presented in Table 1. The values for the geometrical parameters
recommended in EC8, Part 3 are the average of, or even the same
as, those in FEMA 350, due to the lack of experimental studies on
European profiles. So, the effectiveness of these recommendations
is questionable. Recent experimental research [14] confirmed the
need for readjustment of the geometrical characteristics for the
design of a radius-cut RBS.
This paper presents an investigation on the cyclic performance
of steel moment-resisting connections with RBS, using European
0141-0296/$  see front matter ' 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2010.04.038