Abstract
The use of perforated (in particular cellular and castellated) beams has become widespread as their manufacturing processes keep minimising wasted material and has become cost-effective by reducing self-weight of steel structures, while allowing for larger clear spans. Although their behaviour to time-invariant vertical loads has been extensively investigated and validated in laboratory setups, their response to reversible actions has not been explored to the same extent. This paper presents results of cyclic load tests of beam-column reduced web section (RWS) connections, considering setups representative of what is observed in low-rise buildings in the UK; a region with sparse seismicity. Results show that RWS connections on these frames can achieve stable hysteresis loops without significant strength degradation, due to the simultaneous occurrence of yielding of the critical cross-section and development of a Vierendeel mechanism on the edges of the perforations (web openings). Also, inelastic action is mostly observed within the beam, thus being successful in protecting the beam-column connection. Performance particularly exceeds what is observed for a benchmarking RBS connection styled according to the same underlying assumptions, hinting that RWS connections could be a more suitable solution for structural retrofitting in regions where seismicity is sparse.
Highlights
Structural steel is one of the most cost-effective construction materials
This paper explores the suitability of reduced web section (RWS) connections for enduring cyclic actions, despite not being detailed for ductile behaviour, as it is often the case in countries were seismicity is uncommon
This paper presents results of cyclic load tests on specimens representing frames in residential and front-end retail in the UK
Summary
Structural steel is one of the most cost-effective construction materials. Its low self-weight structural capacity ratio, low variability and high ductility offer builders great flexibility, which makes its use widespread. It is quite demanding on the environment as its manufacture is very energy-intensive, leading to a large ecological footprint. It has been estimated that hot-rolled steel production in China can generate as much as 3 tons of equivalent CO2 per ton of final manufactured produce [20]. To keep the steel construction industry sustainable, use of steel must be optimised to the greatest extent. There is a pressing need to minimise the self-weight of steel structural systems. Lighter structures have the tendency to perform really well to earthquake loads as their own weight do not increase forces in the members
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