The rigid seismic connection of continuous beams to column

This paper presents a new rigid connection with some specific features for earthquake-resistant steel structures. In common practice, beams are separately placed between two adjacent columns and connected to their flanges. In this new proposed connection, two beams pass next to the column faces without interruption and are connected to the column flanges by vertical plates. Two different details of this connection have been studied experimentally and analytically. In the first detail, two integrated vertical plates which are placed next to the column flanges and welded to the column flanges’ edges and beam flanges were used in order to connect the two channel-section beams to the column. In the second detail, four vertical trapezoidal plates which are welded to the edges of the column flanges and beam flanges were used in order to connect the two I-section beams to the column. Two experimental specimens for each of the two different details were tested under cyclic loading. Experimental results show that all experimented specimens sustained the interstory drift angle greater than 0.08 rad without any significant loss of strength, which is far in excess of the requirements for a beam-to-column connection given by the latest seismic codes. The experimental and analytical results show that moment capacity of these connections is more than bending resistance of connected beams. Therefore, the structural ductility in this structural system is controlled by the flexural behaviour of beam ends; and the total behaviour of connections and also of column might remain reasonably elastic. As a result, the structure might have high ductility and safe seismic behaviour. Parametric studies show that the design relationships of connection plates safely determine the thickness of connection plates for different sizes of beams and columns.