Performance of Double-Angle Bolted Steel I-Beam to Hollow Square Column Connections under Static and Cyclic Loadings

Earthquake causes severe damage to buildings and infrastructure, due to not only the ground motion but also secondary actions, such as impact, blast and fire which would occur after an earthquake. In order to investigate the post-earthquake loading scenarios, it is important to assess the partial damage of structures caused by earthquake. This paper presents the behavior of double-angle bolted steel I-beam to hollow square tubular column connections under static and cyclic loading. A detailed experimental study is presented in which two groups of bolted steel connections with different column wall thickness are considered. The flexibility and strength of the connections are measured, while the damage phenomena and failure modes are explored in the tests. The connection damage under cyclic loading is found to be an accumulative developing process of fracture which leads to significant gradual degradation of the mechanical properties of the connections. Quantitative evaluations of the cyclic loading induced damage are carried out to investigate the damage level of connections according to different loading scenarios. The test results herein provide a detailed understanding of the behavior of the double-angle bolted connections under seismic loading, which would be useful for further investigations under post-earthquake actions.