Cyclic Testing of Earthquake-resilient Steel Joints with a Replaceable Buckling-restrained Link

This paper proposes a novel earthquake-resilient steel joint with a replaceable buckling-restrained link (RBRL). To study its seismic behavior and post-earthquake resilience performance, five full-scale specimens are tested under cyclic loads, during which three parameters are investigated: the web connection type, the connecting plate thickness and the core plate stiffeners. The experimental results are presented in terms of the test phenomena, hysteresis curves (corresponding skeleton curves, energy dissipation capacity parameters and stiffness degradation curves), and the displacements and strains at key positions. The test results show that the proposed joint can achieve the expected replaceable and hysteresis performance, the joint with welded web connections is prone to welding tear failures, and the connecting plate thickness and the stiffeners have an insubstantial influence on the performance. Finally, finite element models are built and validated through comparisons with the test results.

Automated summary

This study introduces a novel earthquake-resilient steel joint with a replaceable buckling-restrained link (RBRL) and validates its performance through experiments and modeling. The results show that the RBRL can achieve the expected performance, while joints with welded web connections are prone to welding tear failures, and the connecting plate thickness and stiffeners have minimal impact on performance.