Experimental study on seismic performance of fabricated bolted joint under low-cycle reciprocating loads

Abstract

Experimental research was conducted on a novel type of dry joint connected by 8 standard 5.6 bolts. The proposed joint’s seismic performance under low-cycle reciprocating loads was analyzed and compared with the seismic performance of the traditional cast-in-place joint through finite element numerical simulations. The hysteresis, skeleton, and stiffness degradation curves were analyzed. The results show that the bolted joint’s bearing capacity is the same as that of the traditional cast-in-place joint. In addition, the proposed joint’s seismic performance was investigated based on the experiment, from which the overall structure of the joint maintains good integrity, although the bolts in the simulated joint’s core area are damaged and deformed, the steel plate performance is impaired, and the T-beam ends are cracked. Further study indicates that the bolts play a significant role in the energy consumption protection, and delay the damage and deformation of the core area of the joint. The dry joint connected by 12 standard 5.6 bolts was also designed to verify the proposed type of dry joint based on finite element numerical simulations. The simulations show that 12 bolts lead to better seismic performance than 8 bolts. Thus, the proposed assembled bolt connection joint facilitates the realization of the seismic design concept of “strong node and weak member of frame structures.