BUTT JOINT WITH MEANDER OUTLINE FOR BOX-SECTION COLUMN IN FRAME MOMENT CONNECTION FOR SEISMIC

A steel moment frame is a design solution that effectively withstands seismic impact. In National Standards of various countries, box-section columns are recommended for use in moment frame, while this requirement is mandatory in the Russian Federation. Therefore, it is necessary to have a frame moment connection between an I-beam and such column. Most existing solutions involve many welds which reduce reliability under dynamic loads or low temperature conditions. Solutions with fewer welds require special cast components. This article proposes a solution to this problem by introducing a butt joint for box-section columns that creates a frame moment connection with minimal welds, without using any special cast components, and complies with the requirements of National Standards on earthquake-resistant construction in Russia. Based on calculations performed in ANSYS for extracted frame moment connection in static formulation as well as pseudo-plane single-story moment frame and multi-story moment frame in dynamic formulations using accelerograms from earthquakes, a comparative analysis was conducted regarding stress-strain state of the frame moment connection without butt joints and with different types the outline of butt joints. It has been found that a butt joint with the outline like a meander is equivalent to a solid column without cutout, allowing calculations of entire design model without detailed modeling of the frame moment connection, simply by applying fixed joint of column and beam. Additionally, one advantage of this type of butt joint is its ability to solve the issue of installing diaphragm plates in the box-section column body.