HSS-TO-HSS SEISMIC MOMENT RESISTING CONNECTIONS

Abstract

In the seismic moment resisting frames, the hollow structural sections (HSS) provide an alternative to the wide flange sections because of the advantages in terms of structural efficiency, higher torsional stiffness, no significant weak axis, and aesthetic appeal. The major limitation of using hollow sections is the difficulty in achieving strength and ductility in the connection design. The joint details become more complex when the height of the building increases. The purpose of this study is to design and analyze a seismic moment-resisting connection. Numerical analysis has been done by using ABAQUS software. Two types of designed connections were analysed and validated with the experimental results by the ABAQUS modelling: 1)External Diaphragm plate HSS-to-HSS moment connection, 2)Stub- based bolted HSS-to-HSS moment connection. The external diaphragm plate connection was not suitable to use as seismic resistance connection as it has been classified as a flexible connection. The stub-based bolted HSS-to-HSS connection is good to use as seismic moment resistance connection. It has achieved a moment value of more than 0.8Mp at the rotation of 0.04 rad and it has been classified as semi-rigid in terms of stiffness and rigid in terms of strength. The monotonic and cyclic loading analyses were done using ABAQUS. By varying the thickness of the parameters in the connection 55 models were analyzed and the results are compared for monotonic loading conditions. From that 8 models were taken and analysed for cyclic loading conditions. Results were compared and the influence of each part in the beam- column connection has been studied.