Parametric Study on the Hysteretic Behavior of High‐Strength Steel Frame‐Tube Structures With Splice‐Plate Bolted Shear Links

ABSTRACT To enhance the ductility and energy‐dissipation capacity of traditional steel frame‐tube structures, high‐strength steel frame‐tube structures with splice‐plate bolted shear links (HSS‐FTS‐SBSLs) were proposed. HSS‐FTS‐SBSL combines the advantages of replaceable shear links and steel frame‐tube structures, providing good cyclic hysteretic behavior and energy‐dissipation capacity under cyclic loading. In this study, the software ABAQUS was used to create finite element (FE) models of 15 full‐scale single‐story single‐span HSS‐FTS‐SBSL substructures. The hysteretic behaviors, bearing capacity, stiffness, energy dissipation, and plastic deformation capacity of FE models were evaluated. FE analysis results showed that changing the length ratio of the shear links significantly affects the bearing capacity, stiffness, and energy dissipation of the FE models. When the shear‐link length ratio is reduced from 1.45 to 0.73, the load‐carrying capacity of the HSS‐FTS‐SBSL increases by 23.9%, the initial stiffness increases by 19.1%, and the energy‐dissipation capacity increases by 28.8%. Based on the FE analysis results of this study, it is suggested that as the length of the shear link increases, the contribution of the connection between the splice plate and bolts to the structural rotation significantly increases, thereby reducing the plastic rotation of the shear link. It is recommended that the length of the splice‐plate bolted shear link in the HSS‐FTS‐SBSL should not exceed 1.13. Without stiffeners, the bearing capacity and energy dissipation of the structure could be reduced. The spacing of the link web stiffeners had little effect on the bearing capacity, stiffness, and energy dissipation of the structure. When the web stiffener spacing is reduced from 2 e /3 to e /5, the load‐carrying capacity of the HSS‐FTS‐SBSL increases by less than 5%, whereas the initial stiffness and energy‐dissipation capacity increase by less than 3%. Based on this analysis, it is recommended that the spacing of the link web stiffeners in HSS‐FTS‐SBSL should be between e /4 and e /3 (where e is the length of the shear links), following the requirements of the design code. The splice‐plate thickness and bolt diameter had no effect on the bearing capacity, stiffness, or energy dissipation of the structure. Increasing the splice‐plate thickness by 40% and the bolt diameter by 20% improves all HSS‐FTS‐SBSL performance indices by less than 2% and 1%, respectively.