Seismic Performance of Steel Joints Between Double Beams and Column in Chinese Traditional Style Buildings

This paper presents experimental study and finite-element analysis (FEA) on seismic performance of steel joints between double beams and column (DBC) in Chinese traditional style buildings. Eight 1/2-scaled DBC joints were designed according to the principle of “strong-member and weak-joint” and tested under low cyclic reversed loading. The failure modes, hysteresis loops, skeleton curves, ductility and energy-dissipation capacity of the joints were analyzed. It is shown that the failure modes of the joints were shear buckling at lower panel zone, bending failure at middle panel zone, and welds fracturing at the panel zone of the joints. The section types of beams, axial compression ratio, and joint forms between double beams and column had significant impacts on the bearing capacity of the joints. The bearing capacity of the joints decreased as the axial compression ratio increased. Moreover, the bearing capacity of the joints with box beams was larger than that of the joints with H-section beams. Elaborate FEA models of the joints were presented, and a preliminary FEA was first performed to predict the mechanical properties and hysteretic behaviors of the joints. The results of FEA were correlated well with those of test, and the effect of the panel zone thickness on mechanical behaviors of the joints was analyzed, which indicated that the simplified FEA model could provide a powerful tool for future research in design methods of DBC joints in Chinese traditional style buildings.