Abstract :
Finite element (FE) analyses were performed to
explore the prying influence on moment–rotation behaviour
and to locate yielding zones of top- and seat-angle
connections in author’s past research studies. The results of
those FE analyses with experimental failure strategies of
the connections were used to develop failure mechanisms
of top- and seat-angle connections in the present study.
Then a formulation was developed based on three simple
failure mechanisms considering bending and shear deformations,
effects of prying action on the top angle and
stiffness of the tension bolts to estimate rationally the
ultimate moment Mu of the connection, which is a vital
parameter of the proposed four-parameter power model.
Applicability of the proposed formulation is assessed by
comparing moment-rotation (M–hr) curves and ultimate
moment capacities with those measured by experiments
and estimated by FE analyses and three-parameter power
model. This study shows that proposed formulation and
Kishi–Chen’s method both achieved close approximation
driving M–hr curves of all given connections except a few
cases of Kishi–Chen model, and Mu estimated by the
proposed formulation is more rational than that predicted
by Kishi–Chen’s method.
