Seismic Design of Bolted Connections in Steel Structures—A Critical Assessment of Practice and Research

Tiago Ribeiro,Luís Bernardo,Ricardo Carrazedo,Dario De Domenico

doi:10.3390/buildings12010032

Abstract

The importance of connections in steel structures is paramount, not only because it greatly influences the cost of construction and provides room for innovations, but also due to the connections’ impact on global structural behaviour. Therefore, research into innovative connections for seismic applications and related design criteria has significantly grown in recent years. However, it has been pursued mostly on local—connection or frame—levels, leaving the system analysis and code compliance levels with a meagre investigation. Moreover, less than 1% of published papers concerning steel connections and earthquake engineering are review articles. To overcome this gap, this systematic review of more than 240 references, including scientific contributions and design codes in the field aimed to cover both recent research and current shortcomings in practice and regulations. It has been found that European design rules updated to a fully performance-based design philosophy is imminent and is deemed to bring pre-qualified joints and increased complexity. Design rules have been systematized, and current hindrances have been highlighted. A deeper look into research needs and trends showed that investigations in connections for concentrically X braced frames are still a necessity, while developments in self-centring and replaceable connections as well as in simple solutions for increasing damping are expected to modify how joints are designed, as soon as semi-rigid and partial strength connections are more easily allowed by design codes.

Highlights

Steel structures behaviour under seismic loading has long been regarded as very efficient [1] due to the material ductility, construction lightweight, and structural systems versatility [2,3]
Such complexity is usually regarded as a hindrance for practitioners, especially under the encompassing legal framework imposed by the design standards
Assessing the data investigation on published scientific literature pertaining the shared domain of bolted steel connections and seismic design, one can observe that the number of publications was limited until the last 25 years

Summary

Introduction

Steel structures behaviour under seismic loading has long been regarded as very efficient [1] due to the material ductility, construction lightweight, and structural systems versatility [2,3]. Connections design plays a major role in structural detailing and fundamentally affects systems behaviour so that elements and connections design must occur simultaneously and iteratively. Such complexity is usually regarded as a hindrance for practitioners, especially under the encompassing legal framework imposed by the design standards. It is a critical research gap, as many developments and solutions, albeit promising, lack research on its applicability to system-level conditions and regulations framework. With an eye on future developments in structural steel solutions for earthquake resistance, as much as on leveraging the employment of additively manufactured products for steel this review is deemedin to:structural steel solutions for earthquake

Methods

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Discussion

Conclusion