Energy dissipation with slotted bolted connections

Slotted Bolted Connections (SBCs) are modified bolted, butt jointed, shear splice connections. The modification consists primarily of slotting or elongating the holes in one of the plates of the connection. These connections dissipate energy by means of friction between sliding surfaces. Presented in this document are the experimental and analytical results of the testing of individual SBCs and the testing of a large test structure, equipped with twelve SBCs, on the shake table.; The testing of individual SBCs involved, mainly, two types of SBCs. These were SBCs with steel-steel sliding surfaces and SBCs with steel-brass sliding surfaces. It is found that SBCs with steel-steel surfaces exhibit undesirable behavior characteristics. The undesirable behavior characteristics are shown to be eliminated by use of simple brass shim plates.; Results are presented for steel-brass SBCs tested under both sinusoidal and simulated seismic imposed displacements. Data are presented for such steel-brass SBCs with {dollar}{lcub}1over 2{rcub}{dollar} and {dollar}{lcub}3over 4{rcub}{dollar} inch diameter A325 bolts. Effects of using a number of different bolt assemblies including combinations of Belleville and Direct Tension Indicator washers are considered.; An existing frame structure was retrofitted with a system of chevron braces incorporating twelve SBCs. This 96,000 pound structure was tested on the shake table with three different SBC slip force configurations. The structure was subjected to a variety of prerecorded earthquake acceleration histories as well as a number of harmonic acceleration records. The SBCs of the test structure are shown to have performed as predicted by the results of tests of individual SBCs. Experimental results are presented detailing the responses of the test structure to the shake table accelerations and the effects of the SBCs on the behavior of the structure. Finally, it is shown that numerical simulations, with readily available analytical tools, of the structure's response to recorded acceleration histories of the shake table can produce results in excellent correlation with the experimental behavior.