Enhanced connections for improved robustness of steel gravity frames

Published

October 12, 2016

Author(s)

Jonathan Weigand, Joseph Main

Abstract

Potential vulnerabilities to collapse have been identified for steel gravity framing systems with conventional gravity connections subjected to column loss. To address these potential vulnerabilities, a high-fidelity finite element modeling approach is used to investigate a new steel gravity connection incorporating U-shaped top and seat plates with long-slotted holes, to evaluate its potential to enhance the vertical load-carrying capacity of the system. Addition of the U-shaped plates is shown to increase the vertical resistance of the connection in a two-span beam assembly to 2.5 times the resistance of the conventional connection. System-level analyses that employed the U-shaped plates at the beam-to-column and girder-to-column connections show that the system with enhanced connections sustained a 90 % larger uniform vertical load intensity under static loading, relative to the system with conventional connections. Under sudden column loss, the ultimate capacity of the floor system with enhanced connections was essentially equivalent to the applicable gravity load combination of 1.2D + 0.5L, while the system with conventional connections could sustain only 56 % of the applicable gravity loading.

Proceedings Title

Proceedings of the Eighth International Workshop on Connections in Steel Structures (Connections VIII)

Conference Dates

May 24-26, 2016

Conference Location

Boston, MA, US

Conference Title

Eighth International Workshop on Connections in Steel Structures (Connections VIII)

Pub Type

Conferences

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

Buildings, Connections, Disproportionate Collapse, Finite element method, Nonlinear analysis, Steel structures

Citation

Weigand, J. and Main, J. (2016), Enhanced connections for improved robustness of steel gravity frames, Proceedings of the Eighth International Workshop on Connections in Steel Structures (Connections VIII), Boston, MA, US, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=921466 (Accessed May 4, 2024)