Vertical Stiffener Joints to Steel Beams

Abstract

Miao (2004) and Chen and Miao (2005) studied the vertical stiffener joints for the square CFST column respectively. Those analysis results showed that vertical stiffener joints with simple and reasonable construction details had the advantage of transferring load reliably. As the CFDST column has double steel tubes, the vertical stiffener connection between CFDST and H-shaped steel beam was designed in 2012 (Zhang et al. 2015, 2018). The proposed connection mainly consists of vertical stiffeners and embedded anchorage webs, which was devised to cater for the seismic requirements of “strong column and weak beam”. This design was also chosen to provide a relatively strong panel zone so that limited inelastic deformations could occur before significant flexural yielding developed in beams. The structure form, mechanical characteristics and force transfer mechanism of this new type of joint were analyzed and summarized. The behavior of the new joints under seismic loads was studied through testing six beam-to-column assemblage specimens, and for comparison one specimen was conducted between a square CFST column and steel beams.