Extended end-plate bolted connections as moment-resistant connections between beam and column usually fall in the semi-rigid partial strength category. Simplicity, duplication, and economy made this joint widely used in steel frame structures. This type of joint is prevalent nowadays which requires knowledge of the entire nonlinear moment-rotation behaviour of the joints. Using ABAQUS FE software in this paper, a three-dimensional finite element model (FEM) is developed to identify the effect of different geometrical parameters on the behaviour of extended end-plate bolted connection with four bolts per horizontal row as a semi-rigid beam-to-column joint. The component method which, is adopted in Eurocode 3, parts 1-8, provides detailed application rules for the design of bolted end-plate connections when most of them are limited to configurations with two bolts only in each horizontal row, without column web stiffeners. By using the finite element model, a parametric study is conducted to study the influence of column web stiffeners (compression and tension stiffeners, K stiffeners, and double web stiffeners) on three main properties of extended end-plate bolted connection, moment capacity (Mj,Rd), initial rotational stiffness (Sj.in) and rotation capacity (Φcd) under monotonic loading, using finit element (FE) analyses. The analytical research work, done here gives specific attention to the characterization of joint ductility, which is one of the critical behaviours of semi-rigid connections compared with rigid or pinned ones based on finite element analyses.

This paper summarizes the experimental campaign carried out for the development of a new steel energy dissipative device named Slit Dampers (SDs) designed for earthquake protection of structures. SDs consist in shear steel plates with appropriately shaped cut-out portions of material for allowing the maximum spread of plastic deformation along the device and then maximizing the hysteretic dissipative behavior. A total of eighty-two steel shear plates with different openings and thicknesses are tested to investigate their behavior under cyclic pseudostatic loading. Six types of steel shear plates are studied, including the SD with narrow slits that divide the plate into rectangular links, and the butterfly fuse with a diamond-shaped opening that creates butterfly shape links in the plate. Other varying test parameters are loading rate, material strength, and the number of in-parallel damper elements. It is expected that the proposed model can be successfully used to predict the behavior of dampers in real-world applications.

This paper summarizes the experimental campaign carried out for the development of a new steel energy dissipative devices named Slit Dampers (SDs) designed for earthquake protection of structures. SDs consist in shear steel plates with appropriately shaped cut‐out portions of material for allowing maximum spread of plastic deformation along the device and then maximizing the hysteretic dissipative behavior. A total of eighty‐two steel shear plates with different openings and thicknesses are tested to investigate their behavior under cyclic pseudo‐static loading. Six types steel shear plates are studied, including the SD with narrow slits that divide the plate into rectangular links, and the butterfly fuse with a diamond‐shaped opening that create butterfly shape links in the plate. Other varying test parameters are: loading rate, material strength, and the number of in‐parallel damper elements. It is expected that the proposed model can be successfully used to predict the behavior of dampers in real‐world applications.

This paper summarizes the experimental campaign carried out for the development of new steel energy dissipative devices named Slit Dampers (SDs) designed for earthquake protection of structures. A total of eighty‐two steel shear plates with different openings and thicknesses are tested to investigate their behaviour under cyclic pseudo‐static loading. Eight types of steel shear plates are studied, including the SD with narrow slits that divide the plate into rectangular links, and the butterfly fuse with a diamond‐shaped opening that creates butterfly shape links in the plate. Other varying test parameters are loading rate, material strength, and the number of in‐parallel damper elements. It is expected that the proposed model can be successfully used to predict the behaviour of dampers in real‐world applications.