Research Of The Interaction Between Gusset Plate Connections And Steel Frame

The gusset plate connections are often supposed to be ideal hinges inengineering design due to their small stiffness. However, many recent experimentalresearches have indicated that the in-plane performance of the gusset plates was notidentical with ideal hinges, and the in-plane stiffness could not be ignored, therefore,the gusset plates will introduce secondary internal forces in beams and columnswhen the steel frame subjected to severe cyclic loadings, which will bring negativeeffects on the structural safety.In this dissertation, some influence parameters of the gusset plates on thesecondary moments in beams and columns were investigated by using the ANSYSprogram, and some design suggestions on the secondary moments were presented.Moreover, influence parameters of the gusset plates on the forces between the gussetplates and steel frame were also analyzed. The main contests are listed as follows:Firstly, the finite element models of the hinged frames were built up, and theinfluences of the size and thickness of the gusset plates and the axial compressionratio of columns on secondary moments in beams and columns were studied. Basedon the above analysis, some design suggestions on the secondary moments werepresented.Secondly, the finite element models of the rigid frames were built up by usingthe beam elements and shell elements, respectively. The results show that thestability designs of beams and columns are conservative when using beam elementmodels, but the strength designs are not conservative. And then the influences of thesize and thickness of the gusset plates and the axial compression ratio of columns onsecondary moments in beams and columns were studied, and the design suggestionsof the secondary moments were presented.Thirdly, the regularity of the forces between the gusset plates and steel framewas studied, and the influences of the size and thickness of the gusset plates, theaxial compression ratio of columns and the form of the beam-to-column joints onthe equivalent plastic strain in beam webs and column webs were also explored.