Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 125-135 (2025)
RETROFIT EFFECT AND FLEXURAL CAPACITY OF H-SECTION BEAM-
THROUGH BEAM-COLUMN CONNECTIONS FOR STEEL MODULAR FRAMES
Hong-Kai Du 1, Fu-Xiong Yang 1, Yuan-Dong Wang 2, *, Peng-Fei Zhao 3 and Jin-Yu Wang 1
1 Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Future Urban Design,
Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing, China
2 Exyte, Salt Lake City,Utah, USA
3 China Poly Real Estate Corporation Ltd., Beijing, China
*(Corresponding author: E-mail:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Received: 28 May 2024; Revised: 27 December 2024; Accepted: 1 January 2025
DOI:10.18057/IJASC.2025.21.2.4
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ABSTRACT
Beam-through steel beam-column configurations are distinct from traditional column-through steel structures because they discontinue columns at each floor by bolting upper and lower columns to floor beam flanges. It facilitates modular manufacturing and floor/modular erection, which provides more opportunities for low to mid-level steel structures. Compared to its constructability superiority, beam-through configurations typically create a weaker beam-column joint than traditional beam-column connections adopted in the current building codes. In a numerical approach, this study investigates the seismic performance and flexural behavior of beam-through moment-resisting connections with H-section (wide-flange) beams and columns to improve their flexural capacity. Three beam-through moment connections are first simulated numerically and validated by quasi-static experimental tests. Then, five groups of beam-through beam-column connections are designed, calculated, and analyzed. The input parameters include stiffener thickness, doubler plate thickness, doubler plate strength, reduced beam section (RBS) depth, and multiple parameter combinations, while the main output includes yield and ultimate strength, failure mechanisms, hysteretic behavior, backbone curves, energy dissipation capacity, stiffness, ductility, and rotation, which investigates the impact of input parameters on joint flexural capacity. It discovers that increasing the stiffener plates' thickness can better enhance a beam-through joint's bending capacity. Thus, RBS reduces the load-bearing capacity of a through-beam connection and decreases the beam's capacity. However, RBS can successfully transfer the plastic hinge from the joint panel zone to the beam ends with combined with stiffener plates. Finally, an analytical method that can be used to calculate the flexural capacity of beam-through joints is also proposed.
KEYWORDS
Beam-through joint, Steel modular moment frame, Web doubler plates, Reduced beam section, Finite element analysis, Analytical method
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