Design procedure of a shear fuse system for steel moment-resisting frames

Abstract

In steel moment-resisting frames (MRFs), seismic energy is generally dissipated through the formation of flexural plastic hinges at beam ends. In ensuring such a mechanism, current code provisions limit the utilization of beams with small span-to-length ratios in MRFs. This study presents the design procedure of a novel shear fuse system that integrates replaceable shear links with non-prismatic beams to enhance the performance and repairability of MRFs with small beam span-to-length ratios. The proposed design strategically weakens the beam at its midspan by incorporating a replaceable link, prioritizing shear yielding in the link over flexural yielding in the beam outside the link, thus ensuring adequate frame ductility and protecting the critical beam-to-column connections. It can function as an efficient replaceable shear fuse system, as the damaged fuse can be substituted with a new one following a severe earthquake. In fulfilling the study’s purpose, first, several formulas are developed to provide a comprehensive design procedure. Next, example design calculations are presented for an MRF with a small beam span-to-depth ratio. Ultimately, a numerical investigation is provided to examine the proposed system’s performance compared to conventional MRFs. The results indicate that the proposed shear fuse system provides a more consistent cyclic behavior than the conventional prismatic beam design, exhibiting stable strain-hardening behavior up to the 5 % story drift ratio without noticeable strength degradation. It appropriately shifts the plastic hinges away from the beam-to-column connections while increasing the frame’s overall ductility with 1.14 times greater energy dissipation in the final loading cycles.