Seismic Performance of Steel Frames with Semirigid Connections

• Main Authors: Iman Faridmehr, Mahmood Md. Tahir, Tom Lahmer, Mohd Hanim Osman
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi Limited 2017-01-01
• Series: Journal of Engineering
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/5284247

The nonlinear stiffness matrix method was incorporated to investigate the structural performance of steel portal frames with semirigid connections. A portal frame with unstiffened extended end-plate connection was designed to demonstrate the adequacy of the proposed method. Besides, the seismic performance of steel portal frames with semirigid connections was investigated through time history analysis where kinematic hysteresis model was assigned to semirigid connections to account for energy dissipation and unloading stiffness. Based on the results of the study, it was found that generally semirigid connections influenced the force distribution which resulted in the decrease in base shear and lighter frame compared to the rigid one. The results also indicated that there was no direct relationship between maximum displacement at the top and connection stiffness in high-rise frames.