The effect of bracing and lateral load on the behavior of semi-rigid steel frames

• Main Authors: Al-Sherif, Raghdah H., Ismael, Murtada A.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: Beam-columns; Design analysis; Design parameters; Finite element method; Lateral loads; Mathematical models; Numerical analysis; Numerical models; Semi-rigid connections; Steel frames; Steel structures; Verification
• ISSN: 0094-243X; 1551-7616
• DOI: 10.1063/5.0186750

Steel structures consist of beams, columns, and the connection between the beams and the columns. The beam-column connection behavior can affect the total behavior of steel structures. It’s usually assumed to be a fully rigid connection or perfectly pinned connection in the design and analysis of steel frames. In actuality, the beam-column connection behavior is between the fully rigid connection and the perfect pinned connection. This type of connection is termed a semi-rigid connection. In this article, the effect of linear elastic semi-rigid connections on the behavior of steel frames was represented in different study cases. Moreover, the effect of bracing status and lateral loading existence on the behavior of semi-rigid connection was considered in the study. The numerical modeling was produced in two steps: the first was the verification modeling of the finite element model, and the second was considered with the numerical analysis of the case studies. Numerical models were produced using the finite element method to investigate the effect of the semi-rigid connection on the behavior of a two-bay one-story frame with a bracing system and one-bay four-story frame for lateral loading effect on steel frames with the semi-rigid connection. ANSYS program was used for the numerical analysis of the frames. The semi-rigid connection was assumed to be a spring rotational element using COMBIN14 in ANSYS program, while the beams and column BEAM3 element were employed. The verification results showed a good agreement with the results of other previous research. The bracing system of the frame can reduce the effect of the semi-rigid connection on the behavior of the frame by a large percentage. Moreover, a large percentage of the semi-rigid connection’s influence is related to the existence of the lateral loading of the frame. This indicates the importance of including the semi-rigid connection parameter in the design and the analysis of steel frames taking into account the effect of the bracing system of the frame and the existence of the lateral loading.