Design and Testing of Sequential Connections An Innovative Shock Mitigation Structural Connection

摘要

The sequential connection is an innovative connection design that could permit energy dissipation under shock loading. The connection is designed to behave rigidly, similar to a conventional connection under normal operating conditions. On the other hand, when a large shock is applied to the structure, the connection is allowed to slip through a pre-designed gap within the connection. It is through this slipping that some of the shock kinetic energy is dissipated into other forms of energy. The performance of a sequential connection on a two-dimensional frame was evaluated by an impact test. A variety of data analysis methods were used to assess the frame response characteristics using acceleration data. These methods include a newly developed time-frequency analysis technique, in addition to the conventional modal analysis method. The data analysis results indicate that the sequential connection provided reduced levels of accelerations at the interior joints of the frame and appeared to produce an overall efficient structural response for the frame under impact loading.