Experimental study on steel built‐up column moment connections with top and bottom trapezoidal side plates

Abstract

SummaryBuilt‐up and box columns are used extensively in steel structures. A kind of built‐up column is composed of two I rolled shapes separated by calculated interval and welded between two cover plates. The uncertainties due to these columns are the flexibility of the column cover plates under the transferred beam flange plate forces and the brittle behavior of the groove weld between the beam flange plate and the column cover plate. The top and bottom trapezoidal side plates are proposed to improve the behavior of these column moment connections. Using this approach, the total beam flange forces transfer to the lateral sides of the column, parallel to the beam web, by means of top and bottom side plates. An experimental test is developed to study the behavior of the proposed connection under cyclic loading. The results indicate that the proposed connection has sufficient strength and ductility to apply in special moment frames. Also, the rehabilitated connection eliminates the vulnerabilities of deformation of the column cover plate and brittle fracture of groove welds in conventional connections. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.