Study on shear performance of the connection with external stiffening ring between square steel tubular column and unequal-depth steel beams

Abstract

This paper studies the shear performance of the connection with the external stiffening ring between the square steel tubular column and unequal-depth steel beams. Two specimens of interior column connections were tested under low cyclic loading. The deformation characteristics and failure modes exhibited by the test phenomena can be summarized as: (1) two specimens all exhibited shear deformation in steel tube web of the panel zone and (2) weld fracture in the panel zone and plastic hinge failure at beam end were observed. Besides, load-displacement behaviors and strain distributions have been also discussed. The nonlinear finite element models were developed to verify the test results. Comparative analyses of the bearing capacity, failure mode, and load-paths between the equal-depth and unequal-depth beam models have been carried out.