Effect of Geometry of Vertical Rib Plate on Cyclic Behavior of Steel Beam to Built-up Box Column Moment Connection

Abstract

This paper presents numerical studies on the cyclic behavior of connection between I-beam and a built-up box column. The connection utilized the flange plates to connect the beam flanges to the column flange. The flange plates were groove welded to column flange and fillet welded to the beam top and bottom flanges. In order to upgrade the connection, vertical top and bottom rib plates were groove welded to the column flange and fillet welded to the beam flange plates. The effect of the vertical rib plate's geometry and position on the behavior of moment connections was investigated. Nonlinear finite element analyses using ABAQUS program were performed to investigate the cyclic behavior of welded flange plate connections. The results showed that vertical rib plate's reinforcement can significantly improve the behavior of the connection.