EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF COLD-FORMED STEEL BEAM-COLUMN SUB-FRAMES : ENHANCEP PERFORMANCE

摘要

This paper presents the findings of an experimental investigation on cold-formed steel beam-column sub-frames with bolted connections engineered for high structural efficiency and buildability. Based on two previous investigations on a total of twelve beam-column sub-frame tests, the basic connection configurations of bolted moment connections with specific ranges of sizes of cold-formed steel sections and hot rolled steel gusset plates was established. In order to increase the structural performance of the proposed connections, another eight beam-column sub-frames with hot rolled steel gusset plates of engineered shape were executed. It was found from the tests that for connections with thick gusset plates, flexural failure of cold-formed steel sections was critical and the moment resistance of the connections was found to be over 85% of the moment capacity of the cold-formed steel sections. It was thus demonstrated that through rational design and construction, effective moment connections between cold-formed steel sections may be readily achieved for practical building applications.