Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Summary
s a result of lessons learned
A from recent earthquakes
(Loma Prieta, Northridge, Kobe)
as well as on-going research, the
seismic design and detailing of
braced frame connections has
evolved significantly over the past
ten years.
Using an example office build-
ing, this paper presents the
design of braced frame connec-
tions according to the recently
released 1997 Edition of the
Seismic Provisions for Structural
Steel Buildings by AISC. The
examples include various types of
brace connections and column
splices for Specially
Concentrically Braced Frames,
Ordinary Concentrically Braced
25-1
© 2003 by American Institute of Steel Construction, Inc. All rights reserved.
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DESIGN AND DETAILING OF SEISMIC CONNECTIONS
FOR BRACED FRAME STRUCTURES
TERRY R. LUNDEEN
INTRODUCTION
This paper presents the design and detailing of The overall forces on the structure are based on the
braced frame connections for seismic loading. A 1997 Edition of the Uniform Building Code. The
prototype 4-story office building in Seismic Zone 3 design of steel members and connections is based
is used as the basis for the examples. A typical on the AISC Seismic Provisions for Steel
floor framing plan with braced frame locations is Buildings, dated April 17, 1997. A list of the
given in Figure 1. general design criteria is given in Table 1.
The examples include the three basic braced frame While most of the new code provisions are similar
types: Special Concentrically Braced Frames to those of older versions, there have been some
(SCBF), Ordinary Concentrically Braced Frames changes and updates. These changes include
(OCBF), and Eccentrically Braced Frames (EBF). explicit consideration of material overstrength and
A variety of brace types are provided including more direct integration of the AISC Seismic
pipes, structural tubes, and wide flanges. Provisions into the model building codes.
Additionally, both welded and bolted connections Additional, more detailed, revisions are also
are provided for reference. presented in this paper.
While the subject of the paper is connection design,
Table 1
General Criteria brace and column member issues that directly
effect the connections are discussed. The detailed
Code: • AISC Seismic Provisions for design of these members, however, is not provided.
Structural Steel Buildings
• AISC Manual for Load &
Resistance Factor Design
Structure: • Office building
• Located in Seismic Zone 3
• Soil profile type Sc
• The frame configuration are
as follows:
1. Special Concentrically
Braced Frame; R = 6.4
2. Ordinary Concentrically
Braced Frame; R = 5.6
3. Eccentrically Braced
Frame; R = 7
Material • Steel framing A572, Grade 50
Specifications: • High-strength A325/A490
bolts
• Welding Electrodes: E70
Loads: • Roof Dead Load = 20psf
• Roof Live Load = 25psf Figure 1 - Typical Floor Plan
• Floor Dead Load = 80psf
• Floor Live Load = 80psf
(reducible)
25-3
© 2003 by American Institute of Steel Construction, Inc. All rights reserved.
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SPECIAL CONCENTRICALLY BRACED
FRAME (SCBF) CONNECTION DESIGN
For this system, a frame consisting of welded pipe
braces and a frame consisting of bolted wide flange
braces are provided. Frame elevations for both
configurations are given in Figures 2 and 3. The
braces are arranged in a Chevron pattern both
because it represents the most commonly used
arrangement and because of the additional design
considerations given in the Provisions.
For a building of this size, the welded pipe
configuration is preferable both from a design and
construction perspective. The bolted wide flange
configuration is given as a reference for large
structures with brace forces that cannot be
accommodated with pipes. Similarly, the strong
axis column orientation given in the first frame is
desirable; however, a weak axis column
arrangement is also provided for reference.
The SCBF is a newer version of the traditional
steel braced frame. This system was developed to
provide documented ductility, both analytically and
through testing. In general, yielding and column Figure 2 - SCBF Elevation
buckling of the braces provide this ductility. In
order for this behavior to be achieved, local
buckling in the braces or connections cannot occur.
Another requirement to guarantee the desirable
behavior of this system is to preclude plastic hinge
formation in Chevron beams under unbalanced
brace buckling and yielding forces. Also, the beam
flanges at Chevron connections must be braced
out-of-plane.
The connections in SCBF's must be stronger than
the yielding members. For this system, the
connections must also have either the strength to
develop a strong axis plastic hinge or be arranged
to allow a weak axis yield line to form under the
cyclic yielding and buckling of the braces.
A final consideration for this system is with the
columns. In addition to having the strength to
resist axial forces from the amplified earthquake
load combinations, the columns and splices are
designed for a nominal shear force in the column.
This shear strength requirement is provided
because plastic hinges formed in the columns at
large story drifts in some of the initial analytical Figure 3 - Frame Elevation
analyses of the system.
25-4
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WELDED PIPE BRACE-TO-WIDE FLANGE Brace-to-Gusset Weld
COLUMN CONNECTION (Fig. 4) The required weld thickness for the brace-to-
gusset, assuming 12 in. of weld along (4) edges:
Required Strength
The required strength of bracing connections, per
AISC Sec. 13.3.a, is determined from the least of
the following equations:
1. Bracing member's nominal axial tensile
strength:
Figure 4 - Welded Pipe Brace-to-Wide Flange • As can be seen, the connection force to the
Column Connection beam is much larger than that to the column.
As such, larger welds are used at the beam
2. Maximum force, transferred to brace flange to control the size of the gusset plate.
by system as determined by analysis
25-5
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Weld of gusset-to-beam flanges Gusset Plate Thickness
Per AISC Sec. 13.3.b: The design tensile strength,
determined from the limit states of tension rupture
and block shear rupture strength per LRFD Chapter
D, shall be greater than or equal to the required
strength, as determined from above.
Also, the design compression strength, determined
from the plate buckling limit state, shall be greater
than the buckling strength of the brace which is
given from the following:
Table 2
Required Gusset Plate
Criteria Thickness (in)
Block Shear .42
Tension Yielding .41
Plate Buckling .54
Shear Yielding at
Fillet Welds .71
Use ¼" weld for gusset to column. • Once the overall dimensions of the gusset
plate are established by the welds and yield
line, the thickness is determined from the
various remaining criteria.
25-6
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WELDED PIPE BRACE-TO-BEAM Gusset Plate Thickness
CONNECTION (Fig. 6)
The minimum gusset plate thickness follows the
same procedures as for the pipe-to-column
• The beam flanges of this connection must be connection.
braced out-of-plane per AISC Sec. 13.4a.4.
Perpendicular floor beams or angle bracing Check minimum thickness of gusset
similar to that shown in the EBF section can
be used to provide this bracing.
Gusset-to-Beam Weld
• The Chevron beam is quite deep to
provide the required strength for the
unbalanced brace loads. This depth
results in a relatively long gusset plate
with large bending stresses.
• The angle between the brace and the
gusset plate has been limited to 30° to
Figure 7 - Gusset-to-Beam Weld Forces recognize shear lag effects at the plate-to-
beam weld.
• A stiffener plate has been added at the
center of the gusset plate to help develop
the yield line.
25-7
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BOLTED WIDE FLANGE BRACE-TO-WIDE Brace-to-Gusset Connection
FLANGE COLUMN CONNECTION (Fig. 8)
Using the connection layout shown, the following
basic LRFD requirements are checked:
Required Strength
The required strength follows the same provisions Table 3
and procedures as for the pipe-to-column Item
connection.
Single shear of brace 308 354
flange bolts
Flange plate gross 308 405
section yielding
Flange plate net section 308 356
rupture
Flange plate block shear 308 397
Bearing of bolts in brace 308 524
flange
Single shear of brace 176 265
web bolts
Web plate gross section 176 276
yielding
Web plate net section 176 203
rupture
Web plate block shear 176 367
Bearing of bolts in brace 176 239
web
Figure 8 - Bolted Wide Flange Brace-to-Wide Note that the flange and web are sized to have a
Flange Column Connection slightly higher sections than the brace flanges and
web are therefore acceptable by inspection.
Distribute brace force in proportion to web and
flange areas The flange plate-to-gusset weld follows the same
procedures as for the pipe-to-column connection.
Force in flange
Assume 15" weld along all (4) edges of the plate.
Force in web Use 15" of ¼" weld for the flange plate-to-
gusset connection on (4) edges.
25-8
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Gusset-to-Beam Welds Gusset-to-Column Bolts
The gusset-to-beam welds follows the same
procedures as for the pipe-to-column connection.
However, since the column is bending about its
weak axis, is taken as approximately zero
resulting in the moment and horizontal component
of the column being approximately zero. The
forces are shown on the free body diagram of the
gusset plate in Fig. 9.
Table 4
Required Gusset Plate
Criteria Thickness (in)
Use ¾" weld for gusset to beam flange.
Tension Yielding .60
Weld of shear tab to column
Plate Buckling .73
Shear Yielding @ 1.09
Fillet Welds
25-9
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BOLTED WIDE FLANGE BRACE-TO-BEAM Gusset Plate Thickness
CONNECTION (Fig. 11)
The minimum thickness of the gusset plate follows
the same procedures as for the pipe-to-column
Required Strength
connection.
The required strength is the same as for the bolted
wide flange brace-to-weak axis wide flange
column. Use 1" gusset plate
Brace-to-Gusset Connection
WIDE FLANGE COLUMN SPLICE (Fig. 13)
The wide flange brace-to-gusset connection
follows the same procedures as that for the bolted
wide flange brace-to-weak axis wide flange
column.
Gusset-to-Beam Weld
25-10
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Size weld of plate-to-column web using LRFD Per AISC Sec. 8.3a.2: The minimum required
Table 8-42. strength for each flange shall be 0.5 times
Flange Welds
Per AISC Sec. 8.3a.1: If partial penetration weld
used, the design strength of the joints must be at
least 200 percent of the required strength per
equation 4-2.
Equation 4-2 does not include the redundancy
factor.
25-11
© 2003 by American Institute of Steel Construction, Inc. All rights reserved.
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ORDINARY CONCENTRICALLY
BRACED FRAME (OCBF) CONNECTION
DESIGN
This system is the basic steel braced frame that has
been a part of seismic codes for many years. The
frame is configured with welded pipe braces (see
Figure 15) for a direct comparison with the SCBF
in the previous section.
As opposed to the ductility approach for the SCBF,
the design basis for the OCBF is primarily based
on strength. The provisions require braces with
greater stiffness (lower kl/r ratios) and greater
strength (lower system R factor and 80% reduction
of design strength). In addition to these
requirements, new provisions have been added to
preclude local buckling of the braces.
The OCBF system also has special requirements
for Chevron configurations. Instead of requiring
increased beam strength for unbalanced brace Figure 15 - OCBF Elevation
forces, the OCBF provisions amplify the design
forces on the braces, resulting in even stronger,
stiffer braces. WELDED TUBE BRACE-TO-WIDE FLANGE
The connections have slightly lower demands than COLUMN CONNECTION (Fig. 16)
those of SCBF's. The design force can be based on
the amplified seismic load combination if it is
lower than the yielding of the brace. Also, until
recently, there were no requirements for plastic
hinge formation or out-of-plane yielding of the
connection. These requirements were added to the
current version of the Provisions. Even though the
requirements are slightly less, the actual
connections will be larger in the OCBF because of
the larger forces in the stronger, stiffer braces.
Column splices must be designed for the amplified
earthquake load combinations, but have no special Figure 16 — Welded Tube Brace-to-Wide Flange
shear strength requirements. As for SCBF, the Column Connection
Provisions include special requirements for splices
made with fillet welds or partial-penetration groove Required Strength
welds.
The required strength of bracing connections, per
AISC Sec. 14.3.a, is determined from the least of
the following equations:
Bracing member's nominal axial tensile strength:
where equals 1.1 per AISC Sec. 6.2
Force in the brace resulting from the following
Load Combinations per AISC Sec. 4.1
Eqn. (4-1)
Eqn. (4-2)
25-12
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where for OCBF per UBC Table 16-N Weld of gusset-to-beam flanges
and does not include the redundancy factor
Table 5
Required Gusset
Criteria Plate Thickness (in)
Block Shear .32in
Tension Yielding .33in
Plate Buckling .42in
Shear Yielding @
Fillet Welds 1.92in
Figure 17 — Gusset-to-Beam and Column Weld
Forces Use 2" gusset plate
25-13
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WELDED TUBE BRACE-TO-BEAM
CONNECTION (Fig. 18)
Required Strength
The required strength is the same as for the tube-to-
column connection.
Brace-to-Gusset Weld
The brace-to-gusset weld is the same as for the
tube-to-column connection.
Gusset-to-Beam Connection
Gusset Plate Thickness
The gusset-to-beam connection follows the same The gusset plate thickness follows the same
procedures for the SCBF pipe-to-column procedures as for the SCBF pipe-to-column
connection. Also included is the additional plastic connection.
moment as discussed in the previous section.
25-14
© 2003 by American Institute of Steel Construction, Inc. All rights reserved.
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ECCENTRICALLY BRACED FRAME
(EBF) CONNECTION DESIGN
The EBF system was introduced into the building
codes in the late 1980's and has received moderate
use in steel braced frame buildings since. The
frame in this example uses welded tube
connections similar to the OCBF (see Figure 20 for
a frame elevation).
As for the SCBF and OCBF examples, a Chevron
configuration with the links in the center was
selected. The building codes currently also allow
links to be placed adjacent to columns. For that
configuration, the connection design criteria
currently being developed for welded steel moment
frame connections needs to be considered in
addition to the topics presented in this paper.
The ductility in the EBF system comes from the
rotation and yielding of the link. The link in this
example was configured for shear yielding (short
link) rather than for flexural yielding (long link).
Figure 20 – EBF Elevation
The EBF provisions are based on a capacity design
approach and therefore all members and
connections must be stronger than the link. The WELDED TUBE BRACE-TO-WIDE FLANGE
brace design is based on buckling strength under COLUMN CONNECTION (Fig. 21)
the strain hardened link force. The required
strength of the connection then needs to exceed the
expected strength of the brace in compression.
Additional connection issues with the EBF are
associated with the design and detailing of the link.
To assure stable yielding, web stiffeners are
required at each end of the link and also at
intermediate locations. In general, closer stiffener
spacing is required for shear links than for flexural
links. The Provisions do not allow web doubler
plates or brace gusset plates extending into the link
region. Finally, the Provisions require the flanges
of the link to be braced out-of-plane. Figure 21 – Welded Tube Brace-to-Wide Flange
Column Connection
Column splices must be designed for the amplified
earthquake load combinations, but have no special Required Strength
shear strength requirements. As for SCBF, the
Provisions include special requirements for splices The required strength of brace, per AISC Sec 15.6a
made with fillet welds or partial-penetration groove is determined from the resulting forces generated
welds. by the expected nominal shear strength of the link
increased by 125% to account for strain
hardening.
Next, per AISC Sec. 15.6d, the required strength of
the connection shall be at least the expected
nominal strength of the brace. For the TS 8 x 8 x
25-15
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Resultant
• The required connection strength of the EBF
is the lowest of the various frames shown in
this paper. The reason for this lower demand
is that the EBF has the largest system R factor
and that the connection force is based on
brace compression strength rather than brace Use fillet weld for gusset-to-beam flange
yielding.
Weld of gusset to column
Brace-to-Gusset Weld
The required weld thickness for the brace to the
gusset follows the same procedures as for the
SCBF pipe-to-column connection.
Assuming 14" of weld along (4) edges
Table 6
25-16
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WELDED TUBE BRACE-TO-BEAM
CONNECTION (Fig. 23)
Required Strength
The required strength is the same as the EBF
welded tube brace-to-wide flange column
connection.
Brace-to-Gusset Weld
The required weld length for the brace to the gusset
is the same as the EBF welded tube brace-to-wide
Choose weld
flange column connection.
Table 7
Required Gusset Plate
Criteria Thickness (in)
Block Shear .33in
Tension Yielding .29in
Figure 24 – Free Body Diagram of Plate Buckling .31in
Brace-to-Beam/Column Connection
Shear Yielding @
Elastic Vector Method Fillet Welds .63in
25-17
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BEAM LINK (Fig. 23) Link Stiffener Welds
Per AISC Sec 15.3c, fillet welds connecting link
End Link Stiffeners
stiffeners shall have a design strength:
Per AISC Sec. 15.3a, provide full depth web is area of stiffener) for connection
stiffeners on both sides of link at end of braces: of web to stiffener.
• Width for connection of flange to stiffener.
• Thickness or 3/8" whichever is greater Weld For Web
(2) sided, full beam width & depth
Use plate thick
25-18
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Design support for 6% of flange strength Weld at Beam
BEAM-TO-COLUMN CONNECTIONS
Required Strength Per AISC Sec 8.3 the design strength of column
splices shall meet or exceed the required strength
Per AISC Sec. 15.7, these connections shall have of Sec. 8.2:
the strength to resist (2) equal and opposite forces
Eqn. 4-1
equal to 2% of flange capacity - acting
laterally on the beam flanges. Eqn. 4-2
But need not exceed:
a. the maximum load transferred to the
column considering times the
• The Provisions require nominal torsional nominal strength of the member
restraint of the beam away from the link. b. limit as determined form the resistance of
This requirement is met by adding stiffener the foundation to overturning uplift
plates to a typical bolted shear connection.
For this splice, Eqn 4-2 governs
Choose a weld
25-19
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Flange Welds CONCLUSION
Per AISC Sec. 8.3a and 8.3b: Properly designed and detailed connections are
critical to achieve the expected performance of
Column splices made with fillet and partial joint
braced frames in earthquakes. As can be seen in
penetration groove welds shall not be located
the design examples, there are numerous building
within 4' nor half the column clear height of beam
code provisions that address connection design.
to column connections, whichever is less.
These provisions have evolved over the years as
If subjected to a tensile stress per load combination new braced frame systems have been introduced
4-2 filler metal shall meet requirements of CVN and as more experience has been gained from the
toughness as required by Sec. 7.3b, and behavior of buildings in actual earthquakes.
1.) The design strength of partial joint
penetration welds shall be at least equal to
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
200% of required strength.
2.) The minimum required strength for each The author wishes to acknowledge the considerable
flange shall be efforts of Garo Pehlivanian, Kristie Fromhold,
Steve Curran and Michael Townsend in assisting in
Beveled transitions are not required when changes the development of this paper.
in thickness and width of flanges and web occur.
Initially try a partial penetration groove weld that
will be at least equal to 200% of the required
strength.
25-20
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