Non-linear behaviour of steel frame with aluminium shear-link

Abstract

Experience through the years emphasizes the importance of further research to develop sustainable techniques to limit structural damages due to earthquake. Energy dissipation devices are known to be effective in reducing the structural response. Structural members yielding in shear are used in earthquake resistant systems in a conscious effort to concentrate the energy dissipation capacity of the structure in components that can be repaired or replaced after a major earthquake. A promising strategy for such damage control measure is the use of aluminium shear-link. An attempt is made to study the effectiveness of aluminium shear-link in concentrically and eccentrically braced steel frame system. An aluminium shear-link is proportioned to resist the maximum storey shear of the frame and introduced between the floor beam and top of the diagonal braces. The shear force is resisted by horizontal web area of the shear-link by yielding of the shear-link material or by tension field action depending upon its d/t ratio i.e. resistance to shear buckling. Using the finite element method, braced frame without shear-link is analyzed and compared to the behavior of the same frame with shear-link under non-linear static analysis. The failure mechanisms of both the frames are studied. The governing factors of the shear-link performance such as depth to thickness ratio and shear-link location (along the beam) are varied to study the variation in behavior. The numerical investigation is performed to study the shear carrying capacity, ductility and energy dissipation potential under the parametric variation.