Although semi-rigid steel joints has been adopted in design specifications for a long period of time and their benefits are extensively documented (e.g., structural lightness and material savings, easier connection of secondary members, less susceptibility to brittle failure modes than welded joints, more energy dissipation during an earthquake than rigid joints), they are not really used much in practice. Beam-to-column bolted connections in steel frames are often assumed as either rigid or pinned. In spite of making the design process much more efficient, this assumption definitely does not represent the actual behavior of the structure, since most connections nowadays behave indeed as semi-rigid. Pinned and rigid joints are much easier to design since the connection components are proportioned only after the last global structural analysis is completed. In contrast, semi-rigid joint components are designed iteratively (like structural members) since one must assume (pre-design) values of the connection elements in order to get the rotational stiffness value to be used in the global analysis (elastic or elastoplastic). Thus, if the joint mechanical features (initial or secant rotational stiffness and strength) are not easily available to the analyst, which is a reality since design codes and scientific literature do not cover (at all) any possible bolted connection, the design becomes unfeasible (time consuming and troublesome). The purpose of this project is to make the semi-rigid design of joints a feasible reality for all structural engineers and researchers, by providing an extensive database of the rotational stiffnesses, strength and M-Theta; curves of the most important semi-rigid beam-to-column joint types used in engineering practice. According to the aforementioned, this work will give an essential contribute to safer and more sustainable steel construction.

Investigadores:

• Franco Rodríguez, Rosendo
• da Silva Abambres, Miguel
• Jiménez de Cisneros, Juan José
• Yépez Castillo, Herbert
• Pinto Ribeiro, Tiago
• Yupa Villanueva, Renatto
• Llatas Ontaneda, Ysmael
• Martínez Oré, Jherson
• Quispe Ruiz, Jordan
• Curi Grados, Osmar