This document accompanies a list of steel moment connection tests compiled by the Steel Subcommittee of the SEAONC Seismology Committee. Part of the compilation effort has been funded by FEMA through the SAC Joint Venture.
Listed tests are limited to full-scale tests executed since the 1994 Northridge earthquake. A few earlier tests of atypical details may be included. The list includes all SAC Phase I tests. It does not include Japanese tests, which assume construction procedures not used in the U.S. Many of the listed test programs included some pre-Northridge connections, mostly to compare with modified designs or to test repair schemes. References CH0094, E1293, R0696, and TS0695 cover the history of the pre-Northridge connection.
The list is intended to help engineers find information they may need. However, it does not give test results for several reasons. First, the Subcommittee does not want to approve or reject any detail, even indirectly. Also, different test programs measure performance differently, so results must be read in context. Finally, test results are commonly found to be influenced by variables not intended as primary test parameters (actual yield strength, backing bar detail, etc.). In the absence of complete test descriptions, a listing of basic test results could be misleading. Results will be included in a SAC-sponsored version of the list due out in late 1997.
Users are asked to contact SEAONC member David Bonowitz (415-771-3227) if they are aware of tests not listed, or if they have questions about the list or the references.
NOTES
Unless noted otherwise, the following conditions applied to all listed tests:
The following notes indicate exceptions to the typical conditions above:
1 a A572Gr50 or Dual Cert beam or beam nominal yield strength not reported
b A36 column or column nominal yield strength not reported
2 a FCAW weld without notch-toughness requirement at one or both beam flanges
b SMAW weld
c Weld type not reported
3 a Column axial tension applied
b Column axial compression applied
c Out-of-plane moments/axial loads applied to column to simulate bidirectional loading
4 Composite beam behavior simulated with partial slab
5 Test listed is one side of a two-sided (i.e. one column with two beams) test configuration
6 a Static monotonic loading
b Dynamic loading, cyclic (sim ATC-24) or time-history
inc Test data not yet available or data entry incomplete.
ABBREVIATIONS
General
nr not reported
Connection Type
T,B,TB top, bottom, top and bottom
CP cover plate
PreNR pre-Northridge connection
RBS reduced beam section
WSlot web slot
PROP proprietary detail
Column, Beam
bu built-up from plates
BX box
CFT concrete-filled tube
cruc cruciform section
sim H or other section similar to listed WF
wk weak axis orientation
Shear Connection
B bolted only
W welded, with or w/o erection bolts
W pl bm welded to tab, tab welded to col
WB bolted with shear tab welds
REFERENCES
Although some test results are proprietary or not yet published, most have been described in conference papers or journal articles; many of these refer in turn to more complete university reports. Multiple references are given for some test programs to facilitate a literature search. A general search might start with SAC 96-01, which provides useful details and definitions, the Eleventh World Conference on Earthquake Engineering (11WCEE, Acapulco, June 1996), and Proceedings of Structures Congress XV (ASCE, Portland, OR, April 1997). The two latter references include short papers on most of the large test programs from 1994 through 1996. Many university reports are available from NISEE (tel: 510-231-9468, fax: 510-231-9461, e-mail: shirley@eerc.berkeley.edu).
A1295 Anderson, J.C. et al. Post Earthquake Studies of a Damaged Low Rise Office Building (Report No. CE 95-07). University of Southern California, Department of Civil Engineering. December 1995.
See also 11WCEE Paper No. 174. The building is #RCRJ in the SAC Survey (SAC 95-06).
A0596 Anderson, J.C. et al. "Three Repair/Retrofit Procedures for Welded Moment Frames," in Proceedings of the 11th EMD Conference, ASCE, May, 1996.
A0197 Anderson, J.C. "A Welded Moment Connection for Low Rise Steel Frames," in The EERC- CUREe Symposium in Honor of Vitelmo V. Bertero (UCB/EERC-97/05). Earthquake Engineering Research Center, University of California, Berkeley, 1997.
A0497 Anderson, J.C., Yin, Z., and Duan, X. "Repair/Retrofit Schemes for Low Rise Steel Moment Frames," in Proceedings of Structures Congress XV, ASCE, Portland, April, 1997.
A0697 Anderson, J. "Large Scale Weld Overlay Test," June 24, 1997.
Unpublished 4-page memo to SAC, summarizing two tests.
A0797 Anderson, J. "Test Specimen Results," July 7, 1997.
Unpublished 5-page memo to SAC, summarizing one test.
AL1095 Allen, J. et al. "Ductile Connection Designs for Welded Steel Moment Frames," in Proceedings: 64th Annual Convention (1995 SEAOC Convention), Indian Wells, CA, October 1995.
AL0796 Allen, J. et al. "Stress Distribution in Welded/Bolted Beam to Column moment Connections." July, 17, 1996.
Lead paper in unpublished collection of test results, analysis results, related articles, presentation materials, etc. Available from SSDA: 714-363-5850.
AL1196 "Slotted Beam-to-Column Connection Designs." Seismic Structural Design Associates, Inc. (SSDA), November 1996.
Unpublished collection of test results, details, etc. Available from SSDA: 714-363-5850.
CH0094 Chen, S.J. and Yeh, C.H. "Enhancement of Ductility of Steel Beam-to-Column Connections for Seismic Resistance," in SSRC 1994 Technical Session, Lehigh, PA.
CH1196 Chen, S.J. et al. "Ductile Steel Beam-to-Column Connections for Seismic Resistance." Journal of Structural Engineering, November 1996: 1292-1299.
E1293 Engelhardt, M.D. and Husain, A.S. "Cyclic-Loading Performance of Welded-Flange-Bolted Web Connections." Journal of Structural Engineering, December, 1993: 3537-3550.
E1094 Engelhardt, M.D. and Sabol, T.A. "Testing of Welded Steel moment Connections in Response to the Northridge Earthquake," in Northridge Steel Update I. American Institute of Steel Construction, October 1994.
Available from AISC: 312-670-2400. Also presented in Modern Steel Construction (May 1995) and in proceedings of 1995 AISC National Steel Construction Conference (San Antonio, May 1995). See also 11WCEE Paper No. 857.
E0396 Shuey, B., Engelhardt, M. and Sabol, T. "Testing of Repair Concepts for Damaged Steel Moment Connections," in Technical Report: Experimental Investigations of Beam-Column Subassemblages (SAC 96-01, Part 2). SAC Joint Venture Partnership, March 1996.
E0796 Engelhardt and Sabol. "Reinforcing of Steel Moment Connections with Cover Plates: Benefits and Limitations." Presented at U.S.-Japan Seminar on Innovations in Stability Concepts and Methods for Seismic Design in Structural Steel, Honolulu, July 1996.
E0896 Engelhardt, et al. "The Dogbone Connection: Part II." Modern Steel Construction, August 1996: 46-55.
Additional data provided in five unpublished interim "Brief Reports" by Engelhardt's team.
E1196 Civjan, S. and Engelhardt, M. "Brief Report: HAUNCH1."
Unpublished interim report of tests conducted 11/26-27/96.
E1296 Civjan, S. and Engelhardt, M. "Brief Report: DOG1."
Unpublished interim report of tests conducted 12/20/96.
E0197 Engelhardt, M. Letter to DB, 1/17/97.
Report in preparation.
FE0795 Jokerst, M. "Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Human Genome Laboratory Steel Joint Test: Technical Brief." Forell/Elsesser Engineers, Inc. July 20, 1995.
Unpublished report available from F/E.
G0896 Goel, S. et al. A New Look at Steel Moment Connections (Report UMCEE 96-19). Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. August 1996.
HSE0297 Four unpublished fabrication drawings by Herrick (3/25/96) and twelve sheets of unpublished test results by Smith-Emery (2/25/97).
I0496 Iwankiw, N. and Carter, C. "The Dogbone: A New Idea to Chew On." Modern Steel Construction, April 1996: 18-23.
Additional data provided in four unpublished test reports available from AISC: 312-670- 5415.
K0196 Kasai, K. and Bleiman, D. "Bolted Brackets for Repair of Damaged Steel Moment Frame Connections." Prepared for the 7th U.S.-Japan Workshop on the Improvement of Structural Design and Construction Practices: Lessons Learned from Northridge and Kobe, Kobe, Japan, January 18-20, 1996.
Also available from ICF Kaiser engineers: 818-509-3182. See also 11WCEE Paper No. 1732.
K0796 Kasai, K. et al. "Rigid-Bolted Repair Method for Damaged Moment Connections." Presented at U.S.-Japan Seminar on Innovations in Stability Concepts and Methods for Seismic Design in Structural Steel, Honolulu, July 1996.
Also to be published in J. of Engineering Structures in Oxford, England.
KY0497 Kouyoumdjian, H. "High Rotational Capacity Moment Connections." Prepared for ASCE Structures Congress 1997, Portland.
L0696 Leon, R.T. et al. "The Effect of Composite Floor Slabs on the Behavior of Steel Moment- Resisting Frames in the Northridge Earthquake," in Composite Construction III: Proc. of the Third Conference on Composite Construction, Irsee, Germany, June, 1996.
See also 11WCEE Paper No. 656. Also to be presented at April 1997 ASCE Structures Congress in Portland.
LB0496 Fry, T. Facsimile communication with DB, 2-27-97, 6 pages.
Partial results and notes from one of three similar tests by Lionakis Beaumont Design Group, Sacramento. Contact Tim Fry: 916-558-1900.
M0596 Meng, R.L. and Murray, T.M. Moment End-Plate Connections for Seismic Loading (Report CE/VPI-ST 96/04). Department of Civil Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, May 1996.
MNH96 The SidePlate Connection System. MNH-SMRF Systems, Inc.
Undated three-page summary, available from MNH-SMRF Systems, Inc.: 800-475-2077. Refers to LA County SMRF Bulletin No. 3: Steel Moment Resisting Frame (SMRF) Connection Systems.
N0196 Nelson, R.F. "Proprietary Solution." Modern Steel Construction, January 1996: 40-44.
P1095 Blackman, B. and Popov, E. Studies in Steel Moment Resisting Beam-to-Column Connections for Seismic-Resistant Design (Report UCB/EERC-95/11). University of California, Berkeley. October, 1995.
P1295 Yang, T-S and Popov, E. Experimental and Analytical Studies of Steel Connections and Energy Dissipators (Report UCB/EERC-95/13). University of California, Berkeley. December, 1995.
P0296 Popov, E. "UCB Specimen DB1 Test Summary Memo." 9 pages, unpublished. February 27, 1996.
P0396 Popov, E. et al. "Full-Scale Steel Beam-Column Connection Tests," in Technical Report: Experimental Investigations of Beam-Column Subassemblages (SAC 96-01, Part 2). SAC Joint Venture Partnership, March 1996.
P0696 Popov, E., Blondet, M. and Stepanov, L. Application of "Dog Bones" for Improvement of Seismic Behavior of Steel Connections (Report UCB/EERC-96/05). Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, June, 1996.
Listed data comes from a preliminary service-to-industry report: Cyclic Testing of Five Full- Scale Steel Beam-Column Connections, June 1996.
P0297 Popov, E. et al. Cyclic Testing of Four Full-Scale Steel Beam-Column Connections with "Dogbones" (Report UCB/SEMM-97/04). Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, February, 1997.
R0396 Roeder, C. "Summary Report of SAC Phase 1 Task 7 Experimental Studies," in Technical Report: Experimental Investigations of Beam-Column Subassemblages (SAC 96-01, Part 1). SAC Joint Venture Partnership, March 1996.
R0696 Roeder, C. and Foutch, D. "Experimental Results for Seismic Resistant Steel Moment Frame Connections." Journal of Structural Engineering, June 1996: 581-588.
RI0696 Ricles, J.M. et al. "Experimental Performance of Moment Connections in CFT Column-WF Beam Structural Systems Under Seismic Loading," Paper No. 1224 in Eleventh World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Acapulco, June 1996.
RI0497 Ricles, J.M. et al. "Split-Tee Seismic Connections for CFT Column-WF Beam MRFs," in Proceedings of Structures Congress XV, Portland, Oregon, April 1997. ASCE, 1997.
SAC0497 SAC Joint Venture. Connection Test Summaries (Report SAC 96-02). SAC Joint Venture Partnership, April 1997.
Four-page summaries of 30 SAC Phase 1 tests in SAC 96-01.
TD0297 Tide, R. Letter (by facsimile) to DB, February 20, 1997.
Report in preparation.
TR0897 Tremblay, R. et al. "Seismic Performance of RBS Connections for Steel Moment Resisting Frames: Influence of Loading Rate and Floor Slab." Submitted for possible presentation at STESSA '97: Second International Conference on the Behaviour of Steel Structures in Seismic Areas, Kyoto, August 1997.
TS0695 Tsai, K.C. et al. "Experimental Performance of Seismic Steel Beam-Column Moment Joints." Journal of Structural Engineering, June 1995: 925-931.
TS0696 Tsai, K.C. and Chen, C.Y. "Performance of Ductile Steel Beam-Column Moment Connections," Paper No. 405 in Eleventh World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Acapulco, June 1996.
U0396 Uang, C.M. and Bondad, D. "Static Cyclic Testing of Pre-Northridge and Haunch Repaired Steel Moment Connections," in Technical Report: Experimental Investigations of Beam- Column Subassemblages (SAC 96-01, Part 1). SAC Joint Venture Partnership, March 1996.
Video of some tests also available.
U0696 Uang, C.M. and Bondad, D.M. "Dynamic Testing of Full-Scale Steel Moment Connections," Paper No. 407 in Eleventh World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Acapulco, June 1996.
Video of 2 of the tests also available.
U0896 Noel, S. and Uang, C.M. Cyclic Testing of Steel Moment Connections for the San Francisco Civic Center Complex (Report TR-96/07). Division of Structural Engineering, University of California, San Diego. August 1996.
U0497 Uang, C.M. and Noel, S. "Testing of Retrofitted Steel Moment Connections." Prepared for ASCE Structures Congress 1997, Portland.
Results for 6 of 8 tests; two others due for testing in early 1997.
W0396 Whittaker, A. et al. "Seismic Testing of Full-Scale Steel Beam-Column Assemblies," in Technical Report: Experimental Investigations of Beam-Column Subassemblages (SAC 96-01, Part 1). SAC Joint Venture Partnership, March 1996.
W0596 Whittaker, A. et al. Washington High School Reconstruction: Cyclic Testing of Steel Beam- Column Connections (Report EERCL-STI/96-04). University of California, Berkeley. May 1996.
Listed data is from a SAC Summary of this report. Also discussed in August 1996 SEAONC News, p.10.
X0196 Kaufmann, E.J. et al. "Achieving Ductile Behavior of Moment Connections." Modern Steel Construction, January 1996: 30-39.
X0696 Xue, M. et al. "Achieving Ductile Behavior of Moment Connections - Part II." Modern Steel Construction, June 1996: 38-42.
X0497 Xue, M. et al. "Fracture and Ductility of Welded Moment Connections Under Dynamic Loading," in Proceedings of Structures Congress XV, Portland, Oregon, April 1997. ASCE, 1997.
Z0896 Zekioglu, A. et al. "Development and Testing of Moment Connections for City of Hope National Medical Center." In-house report for Ove Arup & Partners California, August 7, 1996.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The following engineers and researchers provided test data and background information for this project: Jay Allen, Jim Anderson, Mike Engelhardt, Tim Fry, Jerry Hajjar, Mark Jokerst, Kaz Kasai, Hratch Kouyoumdjian, Tom Lauck, Roberto Leon, Jim Malley, Brett Manning, Hossein Mozaffarian, Kamal Obeid, Ken O'Dell, Jim Passaglia, the SAC Joint Venture, Mark Saunders, Ray Tide, and Chia-Ming Uang.