Abstract
Specific seismic design methods of beam-to-column connections of steel rigid frame piers have not been established because the seismic performance has not been clear sufficiently. Moreover, the fatigue damage of beam-to-column connections is one of serious problems and structural details such as fillets and scallops were proposed for improving the fatigue performance. But the influence of them on the seismic performance of connections has not been obvious. In this study, experiments of beam-to-column connections were conducted in order to grasp the seismic performance of beam-to-column connections and to estimate the influence of structural details, steel grade and geometry on the seismic performance. Bucking parameters, steel grade and structural details of test specimens were decided in consideration of the survey results of actual steel rigid frame piers. From the experimental results, it was found that fillets and scallops dealt with in study have little effect on the seismic performance of beam-to-column connections and it is important to estimate the yield of web panels of beam-to-column connections adequately. Furthermore, methods for evaluating stresses on web panels of beam-to-column connections were proposed and the validity of the proposed methods was confirmed by comparing experimental results and calculations by the previous model with calculations by the proposed method.
