Engineering Structures 241 (2021) 112136

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Engineering Structures
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/engstruct

Study on seismic performance of prefabricated self-centering beam to

column rotation friction energy dissipation connection
Chen Yun a, Chen Chao a, *, Chen Cong b
a
College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
b
Chinese-German Institute of Engineering, Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Under severe earthquakes, a significant number of unexpected plastic hinges and brittle failure were found in
Beam to column connection conventional rigid beam to column welded connections of steel frames. To improve the seismic performance of
Self-centering steel frames, an innovative prefabricated self-centering beam to column (SCBC) connection was proposed and
Steel frame
experimentally validated in this paper. The SCBC connection consisted of disc springs at the bottom flange of
Friction energy dissipation
Earthquake resilient structure
beam and a rotation friction hinge (RFH) at the beam end. The bottom disc springs could not contact with slab
systems and provided restoring moment, whereas the RFH was designed to dissipate seismic energy. Firstly, its
configuration form and design methodology were introduced. Then cyclic tests of a 1/4 scale SCBC connection
specimen was carried out and the responses of the SCBC connection was compared to that of the RFH. Finally, the
restoring force model of the SCBC connection was established through theoretical analysis. The experimental and
analytical results demonstrated full flag-shaped hysteretic curves of the SCBC connection under cyclic loadings,
verifying the desirable energy dissipation capacity and reliable self-centering capability of the SCBC connection.
The calculation results based on the restoring force model were in good agreement with the test results, showing
that the proposed restoring force model could reasonably predict the hysteretic behavior of the SCBC connection.

1. Introduction performance of building structures are required to be improved, espe­

Steel frame structures are widely used in high seismic intensity areas
due to their high strength and excellent ductility [1,2]. However, after
the Northridge earthquake and Kobe earthquake in the 1990 s, a sig­
nificant number of unexpected plastic hinges and brittle fractures
occurred in steel beam to column welded connections [3], which
prompted researchers to develop innovative beam to column connec­
tions with enhanced seismic performance [4]. To reduce the seismic
damage of beam to column connections in steel frames under strong
earthquakes, two design concepts were introduced. One is to strengthen
beam to column connections to ensure “strong connection” [5], the
other is to weaken beam to concentrate the damage and thus protect
beam to column connections [6]. Following the two design concepts,
plastic hinges could be concentrated in steel beams, and the ductility
and energy dissipation capacity of beam to column connections could be
improved. However, repair of the plastic damage in steel beams would
result in the disruption of the building function and expensive repair
costs [7-10].
With the development of society and economy, the seismic
cially for the important building structures and lifeline structures. It is
hoped that the building structures can satisfy the philosophy of “damage
avoidance” without residual deformation and distributed damage after
severe earthquakes [11-13]. In recent years, researches from the United
States, Japan and other developed countries proposed the concept of
earthquake resilient structures [14-17].It has been widely responded by
the researchers and a series of experimental and analytical studies for
these new-type structures have been performed to investigate their
seismic performance. According to the difference types of self-centering
device, self-centering steel structure systems can be divided into three
types: self-centering steel structure systems based on high strength steel
strand, self-centering steel structure systems installed with shape
memory alloy (SMA) and steel structure systems set with pre-pressed
spring.
(a) Self-centering steel structure systems based on high strength steel
strand
Rojas et al. [18] proposed a new type of self-centering moment

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: chenchaosqkcx@163.com (C. Chao).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2021.112136
Received 5 May 2020; Received in revised form 23 February 2021; Accepted 26 February 2021
Available online 3 May 2021
0141-0296/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
C. Yun et al.
resisting (SCMR) connection. The self-centering force was provided by
the horizontal prestressed strand, and the friction dampers installed in
the upper and lower flanges of beams could dissipate seismic input en­
ergy. Quasi-static tests demonstrated the significantly reduced seismic
responses of the SCMR connections. The shaking table test and numer­
ical simulation of the SCMR connection were conducted by Ricles et al.
[19]. The results showed small structural damage and negligible resid­
ual drift of the SCMR connection after rare earthquakes. Parametric
analyses of the SCMR connection was made by Garlock et al. [20]. The
effects of the parameters such as connection strength, member strength
and non-structural member strength on the overall seismic performance
of the self-centering steel frame were investigated. In 2008, Kim et al.
[21] developed a posttensioned friction-damped connection. Cyclic tests
showed improved seismic performance of the steel frame with the
posttensioned friction-damped and small residual drift. Wolski et al.
[22] studied a type of mixed SCMR connection in 2009. The re-centering
moment was provided by high-strength steel strands, and plastic energy
dissipation capacity was provided by angle steels at the upper flange of
beams as well as friction dampers at the lower flange of beams. The
experimental results validated that satisfactory energy dissipation ca­
pacity of the mixed connection and predictable hysteretic characteristics
under different loadings.
(b) Self-centering steel structure systems installed with shape mem­
ory alloy (SMA)
SMA is capable of excellent shape memory characteristic, super
elastic deformation and corrosion resistance. The applications of SMA in
self-centering systems mainly include self-centering energy dissipation
connections based on SMA bolts or various self-centering energy dissi­
pation dampers (including self-centering braces) based on different
configuration details of SMA. Ocel et al. [23] investigated the mechan­
ical properties of beam to column connections with SMA bars and the
experimental results indicate that the use of SMA bars was found to
effectively enhance the connection stiffness and anticipated yielding
sequences are achieved. Xu et al. [13] carried out finite element analyses
of frame braced structures with horizontal prestressed cables and SMA
bolts. Fang et al. [14] studied hysteretic behavior of self-centering beam
to column joints installed with SMA bolts and the test specimens showed
desirable flag-shaped hysteretic response with negligible residual
deformation.
(c) Self-centering steel structure systems set with pre-pressed spring
Speicher et al. [24] developed a new type of self-centering energy
dissipation brace based on pre-pressed spring. The experimental studies
showed that self-centering energy dissipation brace had good self-
centering performance. Ma et al. [25] presented a self-centering
damper with pre-pressed spring and the investigation results demon­
strated that seismic performance of the damper is improved signifi­
cantly. Xu et al. [26] put forward innovative self-centering friction
energy dissipation brace with preloaded disc springs. The test shows that
the brace possesses stable flag-shaped hysteresis curves. Khoo et al. [27]
proposed a new type of sliding hinged friction energy dissipation
connection installed with preloaded annular spring and experimental
results confirm that the residual drift of the connection is significantly
reduced in one loading direction.
However, some issues need to be addressed for engineering appli­
cations of the previous proposed earthquake resilient connections.
Firstly, the gap-opening in the beam to column interface based on high
strength steel strand may cause unexpected effects of “beam-growth”
and results in the yielding or bulking of the connections under rare
earthquakes. Secondly, the complex configuration details of the previ­
ous proposed connections with the self-centering component and the
energy dissipation device welded on the upper flange of the beam, which
causes the interference with the floor systems. Thirdly, the engineering
2
Engineering Structures 241 (2021) 112136
applications of SMA connections have difficulty due to the relative
higher purchase costs for SMA. Finally, the existing resilient beam to
column connection [27] based on pre-stressed disc springs only pos­
sesses self-centering capability in single loading direction and the re­
sidual deformation in another direction could not be eliminate,
indicating that the self-centering performance of the connection needs to
be enhanced and the optimization design is also required.
To address the above problems, a novel prefabricated self-centering
beam to column (SCBC) connection is proposed in this paper. The SCBC
connection consists of disc springs installed at the bottom flange of the
beam and a rotation friction hinge (RFH) set at the beam end. The
bottom disc springs could not contact with floor systems and provide
reliable re-centering moment in both positive and negative loading di­
rections, whereas the RFH was designed to dissipate seismic input en­
ergy. Firstly, the configuration and design methodology of the SCBC
connection are introduced. Then, cyclic tests of a 1/4 scale SCBC
connection are carried out and the cyclic responses of the SCBC
connection are compared with that of the RFH. Finally, the restoring
force model of the SCBC connection is established through theoretical
analysis and is validated by the test results.
2. Configuration and design methodology
2.1. Configuration of the disc spring
Disc spring is a type of metal spring made by high-strength alloy and
has been widely used in the vibration control system of automobile and
aircraft due to its simple constitution, excellent compression capacity
and stable mechanical properties. Moreover, the reasonable axial stiff­
ness and deformation can be obtained through the parallel and series
combination of disc springs which are named as composite combination
disc spring (CCDS) [28], as shown in Fig. 1. In recent years, several
researches have introduced the CCDS into the field of earthquake en­
gineering and taken it as a new type of self-centering components or
dampers. The main mechanical parameters of the CCDS are calculated as
follows [29]:
( )2 ( )2
4E t3 h0 h0 f 3 f
k= × × [ − 3 × + + 1] (1)
1 − ν2 λ1 D2 t t t 2 t
1 [(C − 1)/C]2
λ1 = × (2)
π (C + 1)/(C − 1) − 2/InC
Ft = n × k × f (3)
ft = i × f (4)
Ft n × k
ks = = (5)
ft i
where k andf are the axial stiffness and axial deformation of a single
disc spring (SDS), respectively; λ1 is the calculation coefficient;Ft ,
ks andft are the axial force, equivalent axial stiffness and axial deforma­
tion of the CCDS, respectively; E and ν are the elastic modulus and
Poisson’s ratio of the steel material, respectively;t, d, D, h0 are the
thickness, inner diameter, outer diameter and height of the SDS,
respectively, as shown in Fig. 2; cis the ratio of the outer diameter D to
the inner diameter d of the SDS;n is the number of disc springs in par­
allel; iis the number of the disc springs in series.
2.2. Configuration of the SCBC connection
With the concept of forming an earthquake resilient structure, a type
of self-centering rocking steel frame (SCRSF) has been proposed by the
authors recently [30], as shown in Fig. 3(a). The SCBC connection is a
key innovative component to ensure the reliable self-centering capa­
bility of the SCRSF, as illustrated in Fig. 3 (b). The steel beam is divided
C. Yun et al. Engineering Structures 241 (2021) 112136

Fig. 1. Configuration of the CCDS.

the CCDS is compressed and provides restoring moment. According to

the mechanical characteristics, the deformation mode of SCBC connec­
tion can be divided into two stages. The first stage exhibits the elastic
deformation and the second stage shows the rigid body rotation mode.

3. Design of test

3.1. Specimen design and test setup

Fig. 2. Cross section of the SDS.

One 1/4 scale RFH and one 1/4 scale SCBC connection specimen
into the short beam and the middle beam. The short beam is directly
were designed and fabricated due to the performance limitation of the
welded on the column flange, and the middle beam is connected to the
actuator in the laboratory. The geometric sizes of the steel beam and
short beam by the RFH. To avoid “beam-growth” and interference with
steel column are scaled and the material of the model structure is same
floor systems, the self-centering component is installed at the bottom
as that of the prototype structure. The loading setup and instrument
flange of the steel beam. To demonstrate the configuration details and
layouts are shown in Fig. 4. The middle beam and short beam were made
working principle comprehensively, the installation steps of the SCBC
up of welded H sections with the dimensions of 180 × 180 × 10 × 12
connection are presented in the following paragraph.
mm and 200 × 200 × 10 × 12 mm, respectively. The vertical lengths of
As illustrated in Fig. 3 (c), the CCDS is set on the high strength anchor
the above mentioned beams were 850 mm and 150 mm, respectively.
rod and two backing plates and nuts are installed at the upper and lower
The column was fabricated from welded H-section with the dimension of
interface of the CCDS. The pre-tension is applied to the high-strength
240 × 240 × 12 × 14 mm. The horizontal length of the column was 590
anchor rod by the torque wrench to provide the self-centering force
mm. A 30 mm gap was set between the middle beam and the short beam.
for the connection and the hinge connection device is welded at the one
The distance between the center of the actuator and the RFH was 620
end of the high strength anchor rod to connect with the steel column and
mm. Two 3-mm-thick friction plates were placed between the connect­
the aim of setting this connection form is to ease the installation and
ing plate and the surfaces of the friction plates sandblasted before
replacement after earthquakes. It can be seen that from Fig. 3 (d) that
installation. According to the design standard of the disc spring [29], a
the diameter of the screw holes on the two spring baffles is larger than
type A disc spring with the 80-mm outer diameter, the 41-mm inner
that of the nut connecting with the backing plate to ensure the free
diameter and the 6.7-mm height was adopted. Two sectional groups in
movements of the nuts in the screw holes under earthquakes. In addi­
parallel and ten groups in series were arranged for the selected disc
tion, the movements of the backing plates are restricted because the
spring.
lengths of the backing plates are smaller than the diameter of the screw
holes. Previous research indicated that the initial existing tolerances in
self-centering component would cause failure of the self-centering 3.2. Material mechanical properties
behavior, so the backing plates, spring baffles and nuts are installed in
close contact with each other. As shown in Fig. 3 (e), the strengthen The design strength grade of structural steel is Q345B. The me­
plates A and B are installed in the self-centering component to prevent chanical properties of the steel were obtained from the monotonic ten­
the failure of self-centering performance of the SCBC connection due to sile test using a universal testing machine. Three specimens were tested
severe deformation of the spring baffles. Finally, as presented in Fig. 3 with the same thickness, stress and strain curves of structural steel are
(f), the strengthen plates A and spring baffles are welded at the bottom illustrated in Fig. 5 and the average values are listed in Table 1.
flange of the middle beam and the self-centering component is bolted
with the steel column by the hinge connection devices. Based on the 3.3. Loading protocol
design of configuration details of the self-centering component, the
CCDS are always in compression state and provided reliable self- 50kN, 100kN, 150kN and 200kN initial pre-tensions were applied to
centering moment for the SCBC connection in both positive and nega­ the high-strength bolt of the RFH in turn. To investigate the individual
tive directions. contribution of the friction energy dissipation device and the self-
The flexural resistance of the SCBC connection is determined by the centering component, cyclic loading was applied to the connection by
CCDS and RFH, and the energy dissipation capacity is provided by the a hydraulic-servo actuator and loading protocols were controlled by
RFH, whose normal force is achieved by pre-tensile high-strength bolt. displacement, as shown in Fig. 6. The test displacement loading was
The RFH is connected to the steel column by the rotation hinge that divided into two stages. In the first loading stage, the quasi-static
could be conveniently replaced after earthquakes. Under earthquakes, loadings of the RFH were performed to study mechanical

3
C. Yun et al. Engineering Structures 241 (2021) 112136

Fig. 3. Configuration details.

characteristics of the friction energy dissipation device. In the second displacements for the RFH and SCBC connection are determined by the
loading stage, the hysteretic behavior of the SCBC connection was inter-story drift limit value of the SCRSF under rare earthquakes which is
examined by low cycle reversed loading to reveal the cooperative recommended from the seismic code [31].
working mechanism of the RFH and CCDS. The maximum loading

4
C. Yun et al.
Fig. 4. The loading setup and instrument layouts.
4. Test results
4.1. Experimental phenomenon
Fig. 7 shows the deformation of the SCBC connection with 200kN
pre-tension when the displacement loading was applied with an
amplitude of 40 mm. It can be seen from Fig. 7 (a) that the friction hinge
rotated in a clockwise direction under the tension force applied by the
5
Engineering Structures 241 (2021) 112136
actuator. As shown in Fig. 7 (b) and (e), the upper spring baffle and the
upper backing plate compressed the disc springs downward and the
upper nut was separated from the upper backing plate. In addition, the
lower nut was fixed by the bolt thread and the lower backing plate was
restricted by the lower nut, and the lower spring baffle is separated from
the lower backing plate. From Fig. 7(c) we can see that the deformation
mechanism of the SCBC connection was the rigid body rotation, which is
the expected deformation mode.
C. Yun et al. Engineering Structures 241 (2021) 112136

10mm confirmed that the proposed SCBC connection was capable of good en­
600
12mm ergy dissipation capacity and reliable self-centering capability in both
20mm positive and negative loading direction.

400 4.3. Skeleton curves

Stress(Mpa)

The skeleton curves of the RFH and SCBC connection subjected to

cyclic lateral loadings are shown in Fig. 10. It is noted that the skeleton
200 curves of both RFH and SCBC connection exhibited bilinear response
and the turning points represented the critical rotation state of the SCBC
connection. Mechanic properties from the skeleton curves are summa­
rized in Table 2 and Table 3. With increasing the initial pre-tension force
0
0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 of high strength bolts, the critical rotation displacement, critical rotation
Strain strength and peak strength of the RFH increased. The initial stiffness of
the SCBC connection was twice as much as that of the RFH, whereas the
Fig. 5. Stress and strain curves of structural steel. critical rotation displacement of the SCBC connection was approxi­
mately equal to that of the RFH. In addition, the first loading stiffness
and second loading stiffness of the SCBC connection were approximately
Table 1
equal to the first uploading stiffness and second uploading stiffness,
Material mechanical properties.
respectively. A significant increment of the peak strength was achieved
Thickness of Yield Tensile Elastic Percentage
by the SCBC connection comparing to that of the RFH, which was due to
specimen strength strength modulus elongation after
(mm) (Mpa) (Mpa) (105Mpa) fracture (%) the force contribution provided by the CCDS.

10 378.21 487.54 2.12 23.51

12 364.52 473.47
20 352.14 468.33
Fig. 7 (d) illustrates the post loading condition of test connection
specimen, and no damage or bucking of the steel plates can be observed
after the cyclic loading. Fig. 8 shows the measured strains of three key
parts of the SCBC connection and the strains were smaller than the yield
strain (1637με), indicating that the SCBC connection remained elastic in
the whole loading process.
4.2. Hysteresis curves
The hysteretic responses of the RFH and SCBC connection are shown
in Fig. 9.The parallelogram-shaped hysteretic curves of the RFH indi­
cated the excellent energy dissipation capacity of the RFH. The strength
degradation of the RFH was minimal and its mechanical performance
was stable. Larger initial stiffness and higher peak strength were ach­
ieved for the SCBC connection compared to those of the RFH. The
reasonable additional stiffness provided by the CCDS could ensure a
reliable self-centering behavior of the SCBC connection within a pre­
defined target loading displacement. Full double flag-shaped hysteresis
curves of the SCBC connection were observed and the residual de­
formations of the SCBC connection were found to be negligible. It
2.06 21.42 4.4. Residual deformation
2.03 19.33
Researches showed that as the residual drift was greater than 0.5%,
the cost of repairing the damaged structures was larger than that of
removing and reconstructing. Therefore, the residual deformation is
regarded as an important parameter to assess the seismic performance of
self-centering structures or connections. The residual drift coefficient (η)
was adopted to evaluate the seismic performance of the SCBC connec­
tion and is given by:
Δr
η= (6)
h
whereΔr is the residual deformation of the SCBC connection; h is the
distance between the rotation center of RFH and the loading center of
the actuator.
As shown in Fig. 11 (a), increasing residual drift was achieved by the
RFH with the increment of the loading displacement, and the maximum
value was 0.043. However, the residual drift of the SCBC connection was
negligible and the maximum value was small (0.0017), as shown in
Fig. 11 (b). It confirmed that the residual deformation of the SCBC
connection could be effectively reduced when the self-centering moment
provided by the CCDS was sufficiently large to overcome the rotation
friction moment provided by the RFH. Furthermore, the maximum re­
sidual drift coefficient of the SCBC connection (0.17%) was below the

50 40
40 30
30 20
Displacement mm
Displacement mm

20
10
10
0 0
-10 -10
-20 -20
-30
-30
-40
-50 -40
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Loading cycles Loading cycles

(a) RFH (b) SCBC connection

Fig. 6. Loading protocols.

6
C. Yun et al.
Fig. 7. Test phenomenon.
maximum residual drift ratio limit of 0.5%, indicating that the SCBC
connection was repairable after earthquakes.
4.5. Stiffness degradation
The secant stiffness (Ki ) was adopted to evaluate the stiffness
degradation of the SCBC connection and RFH. The calculation formula
of the secant stiffness is given by:
| + Fi | + | − Fi |
Ki = (7)
| + Δi | + | − Δi |
where + Fi and − Fi are the positive and negative peak strength,
respectively; + Δi and − Δi are the loading displacement corresponding
to the positive and negative peak strength, respectively. Stiffness
degradation curves of both SCBC connection and RFH are presented in
Fig. 12. It is noted that the SCBC connection and RFH exhibited similar
stiffness degradation trends. As the displacement ranged from 1 mm to 8
7
Engineering Structures 241 (2021) 112136
mm, a significant decrease of the secant stiffness was observed. How­
ever, the decrease was small as the displacement varied from 16 mm to
20 mm due to the rotation of connection. Moreover, the minimum secant
stiffness of the RFH was 0.47kN/mm whereas that of SCBC was 4.16kN/
mm. The secant stiffness of the SCBC connection was much larger than
that of RFH due to the additional stiffness provided by the CCDS.
4.6. Energy dissipation
The area of the hysteresis curve corresponding to each loading
displacement cycle was adopted to assess the energy dissipation capacity
of the SCBC connection and RFH. As illustrated in Fig. 13, the energy
dissipation capacity of the SCBC connection was larger than that of the
RFH, demonstrating that the energy dissipation capacity contributed by
the CCDS could not be ignored. However, the energy dissipation incre­
ment is relatively small compared to the energy dissipation value of the
RFH, which confirmed that the energy dissipation capacity of SCBC
connection was mainly determined by the RFH. With the increases of the
C. Yun et al. Engineering Structures 241 (2021) 112136

Fig. 8. Test strain of specimen.

SCBC SCBC
80 90
RFH RFH
60
60
40
20 30
Force(kN)
Force(kN)

0 0
-20
-30
-40
-60 -60
-80
-80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 -90
-80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80
Displacement(mm)
Displacement(mm)

(a) 50kN (b) 100kN

SCBC SCBC
120 RFH 120 RFH
90
80
60
40
30
Force(kN)

Force(kN)

0 0
-30
-40
-60
-80
-90
-120 -120
-80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80
Displacement(mm) Displacement(mm)

(c)150kN (d)200kN
Fig. 9. Hysteresis curves of the specimen.

8
C. Yun et al. Engineering Structures 241 (2021) 112136

SCBC(50kN)
5. Restoring force model
150 SCBC(100kN)
SCBC(150kN) The restoring force model of the SCBC connection can be obtained by
100 SCBC(200kN) the restoring force model of the energy dissipation component RFH and
RFH(50kN) the self-centering component CCDS. In the following discussions, the
50 RFH(100kN) restoring force models of the RFH and CCDS were derived in detail
RFH(150kN) through theoretical analyses, and then key parameters for the restoring
Force(kN)

0
RFH(200kN) model of the SCBC connection were obtained through linear super­
position. In the following analysis, the steel beam and column were
-50 assumed to remain elastic.

-100 5.1. Restoring force model of RFH

-150 The RFH dissipated seismic energy through the rotation friction be­
-80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80
tween connecting steel plates and brass plates, so a restoring force model
Displacement(mm)
based on the rotation friction moment and rotation angle was proposed,
Fig. 10. Skeleton curves of the RFH and SCBC connection. as shown in Fig. 14. When the rotation angle of the RFH is smaller than
θ1, the rotation moment would not exceed the critical rotation friction
momentMf1 and the RFH remains static. As the rotation angle exceeds θ1,
Table 2 the RFH rotates in the positive direction and the rotation friction force is
Mechanical properties of the RFH.
Initial Initial Critical rotation Critical Peak
normal stiffness displacement(mm) rotation strength SCBC(50kN)
12 SCBC(100kN)
force (kN/mm) strength(kN) (kN)
SCBC(150kN)
50kN 5.51 1.11 6.12 7.34 10 SCBC(200kN)

Secant stiffness(kN/mm)
100kN 5.49 2.32 12.74 13.41 RFH(50kN)
150kN 5.64 3.41 19.26 20.67 8
RFH(100kN)
200kN 5.47 4.56 24.94 26.89
RFH(150kN)
6
RFH(200kN)

loading displacement and initial pre-tension force of high strength bolts 4

of the RFH, a significant increment of the energy dissipation was found
2
in both SCBC connection and RFH. It demonstrated that the SCBC
connection possessed desirable energy dissipation capacity and the en­ 0
ergy dissipation capacity could be enhanced by increasing the pre- 0 9 18 27 36 45
tension of the high-strength bolt. Displacement(mm)

Fig. 12. Stiffness degradation curves.

Table 3
Mechanical properties of the SCBC connection.
Initial normal Critical rotation First loading stiffness Second loading stiffness First uploading stiffness Second uploading stiffness Peak strength
force displacement(mm) (kN/mm) (kN/mm) (kN/mm) (kN/mm) (kN)

50kN 2.12 10.43 3.62 10.51 3.65 66.31

100kN 2.83 10.52 3.67 10.57 3.68 81.45
150kN 3.65 10.61 3.69 10.73 3.72 94.27
200kN 4.74 10.69 3.71 10.63 3.74 109.53

0.05 50kN 0.003 50kN

0.04 100kN 100kN
150kN 0.002 150kN
0.03
Residual drift coefficient

200kN
Residual drift coefficient

200kN
0.02 0.001
0.01
0.00 0.000
-0.01
-0.001
-0.02
-0.03 -0.002
-0.04
-0.05 -0.003
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Displacement(mm) Displacement mm

CBC connection
Fig. 11. Curves of the residual drift coefficients.

9
C. Yun et al. Engineering Structures 241 (2021) 112136

3200 SCBC(50kN)
SCBC(100kN)
SCBC(150kN)
Energy dissipation(kN.mm)

2400 SCBC(200kN)
RFH(50kN)
RFH(100kN)
1600 RFH(150kN)
RFH(200kN)

800

0
0 10 20 30 40 50
Displacement(mm)

Fig. 13. Comparison of energy dissipation curves.

Fig. 16. Calculation simplified diagram of rotation friction moment.

ds = 2πrdr (8)
where r and dr are the radius and thickness of the microelement,
respectively. The normal stress on the friction surface p is given by:
FN
p= (9)
π(R22 − R21 )
where FN is the initial pre-tension force of high strength bolts of the
RFH; R1 and R2 are the inner and outer radius of the friction interface,
respectively. Then the rotation friction force of the microelement df and
the rotation friction moment of the microelement dM can be determined
by:
2μFN rdr
df = μpds = (10)
R22 − R21

2μFN r2 dr
dM = rdf = (11)
R22 − R21
whereμis the friction coefficient of the friction interface; ris the
Fig. 14. The restoring force model of the RFH. radius of the microelement. By integrating the rotation friction moment
dM from R1 to R2, the rotation friction moment of a single friction
produced between friction interfaces. θ2 is the designed maximum surfaceMfr is obtained by:
rotation angle and it starts to unload when loaded to θ2. The unload ∫ R2
2μFN (R1 2 + R1 R2 + R2 2 )
stiffness is equal to the loading stiffness. Mfr = dM = (12)
3(R1 + R2 )
Fig. 15 shows the lateral behavior of the RFH. The rotation friction R1

moment can be calculated using the infinitesimal element method, as Therefore, the critical rotation friction moment Mf1 of the RFH is
illustrated in Fig. 16. The red part is the microelement and the area of given by:
the microelement ds is expressed as:

Fig. 15. Analysis model of the RFH.

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C. Yun et al. Engineering Structures 241 (2021) 112136

4μFN (R1 2 + R1 R2 + R2 2 )
Mf 1 = 2Mfr = (13) Me = F0 d1 (23)
3(R1 + R2 )
Where F0 is the pre-compression of the CCDS;d1 is the distance be­
As shown in Fig. 15, the horizontal critical forceFe can be computed
tween the vertical centerline of the column and vertical centerline of the
by:
CCDS. As shown in Fig. 18 (b), when the rotation angle reaches θ, the
Mf 1 moment increment ΔMof the CCDS is calculated as:
Fe = (14)
h
ΔM = ks d1 2 θ (24)
where h is the distance between the rotation center of the RFH and
the loading center of the actuator. Then the critical rotation horizontal whereks is the equivalent axial stiffness of the CCDS determined by
displacementΔ1 and critical rotation horizontal angleθ1 can be calculated Eq.(5). Then the rotation stiffnesskr of the CCDS can be obtained by:
by: kr = ks d1 2 (25)
2
Δ1 =
Fe h3 Fe lh
+ (15) The other parameters illustrated in Fig. 19 can be calculated as
3EI2 12EI1 follows:

Δ1 M1 = Me + kr θ1 (26)
θ1 = (16)
h
M2 = Me + kr θ2 (27)
where E is the elastic modulus of the steel plate; I1 and I2 are the
inertia moment of the steel column and beam, respectively. The other M3 = Me + kr θ3 (28)
parameters in Fig. 14 can be calculated as follows :
whereM1 , M2 andM3 are the self-centering moment corresponding to
Mf 1
kf 1 = (17) the rotation angleθ1 ,θ2 andθ3 , respectively. The restoring force model of
θ1
the CCDS can be determined by Eqs. (23)–(28).
θ3 = θ2 − 2θ1 (18)
5.3. Restoring force model of the SCBC connection
Mf 2 = Mf 1 + kf 2 (θ2 − θ1 ) (19)
As shown in Fig. 20, the restoring force model of the SCBC connec­
Mf 3 = Mf 2 − kf 1 (θ2 − θ3 ) (20) tion can be obtained by linear superposition of the restoring force model
of the RFH and CCDS. The parameters in Fig. 20 are given by:
Mf 4 = Mf 3 − kf 2 θ3 (21)
k1 = kf 1 + kr (29)
whereθ2 is the design rotation angle; kf 2 is the second stiffness of the
RFH and is recommended as: k2 = kf 2 + kr (30)
kf 2 = 0.02kf 1 (22)
M0 = Me (31)
The restoring force model of the RFH can be determined by Eq.(13)
to Eq.(22). Fig. 17 shows the comparison of the test result and the Ma = Mf 1 + M1 (32)
calculation result based on the proposed restoring force model. The
calculation result was found in good accordance with the test result, Mb = Mf 2 + M2 (33)
proving that the proposed restoring force model could capture the
Mc = M3 − Mf 3 (34)
hysteretic behavior of the RFH under cyclic loadings.
Md = Me − Mf 4 (35)
5.2. Restoring force model of CCDS
On the basis of least square method, the value of is kf 2 obtained by the
The lateral behavior of the SCBC connection is shown in Fig. 18. The experimental fitting and the statistical coefficient R2 is 0.92. Fig. 21
CCDS provides a self-centering capacity for the connection and the compares the calculation and test results of the load-deformation
initial moment Me produced by the CCDS is given by: behavior of the SCBC connection. The calculation result based on the
restoring force model agreed well with the test result, validating that the
proposed restoring force model could reasonably predict the hysteretic
behavior of the SCBC connection.
Test results
12000 Restoring force model 6. Finite element analyses

8000
Rotation moment kN.mm

In this section, a 1/4 scale finite element model of the SCBC

connection is established with the aid of ABAQUS and validated by the
4000
test results. On basis of the model validation, a full-scale SCBC
0 connection model is developed using same modeling method to inves­
tigate the self-centering capability of the full-scale SCBC connection
-4000 under cyclic loading.

-8000 6.1. Modeling method

-12000
-0.10 -0.05 0.00 0.05 0.10 All the components of the SCBC connection are simulated using the
Rotation angle rad eight-node linear brick element (C3D8R) available in the ABAQUS li­
brary. Meshing is performed with the aid of the structured and swift
Fig. 17. Comparison of hysteresis curves of the RFH. mesh techniques. The CCDS is modeled using spring element to simplify

11
C. Yun et al. Engineering Structures 241 (2021) 112136

Fig. 18. Analysis diagram of the SCBC connection.

60000 Test results

Restoring force model
40000

Rotation moment kN.mm

20000

-20000

-40000

-60000
-0.15 -0.10 -0.05 0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15
Fig. 19. The restoring force model of the CCDS.
Rotation angle rad

Fig. 21. Comparison of hysteresis curves of the SCBC connection.

Fig. 22. Spring element in ABAQUS.

Fig. 20. The restoring force model of the SCBC connection.
the simulation and accelerate the calculation speed, as shown in Fig. 22.
A bolt load command is adopted to apply initial pre-tension force to the
high strength bolt of the RFH. A tie constraint is used to simulate
welding among different components. The material properties of struc­
tural components are set according to the material test results and
idealized multi-linear stress–strain law with the von Mises yield crite­
rion is considered for the steel components. The structural member size
and displacement loading protocol are the same as that of the cyclic
loading test. The initial pre-compression of the CCDS is applied by
cooling temperature method. The design loading displacement of the 1/
4 scale SCBC connection model is 40 mm which is equal to 1/30 inter-
story drift. The finite element model of 1/4 scale SCBC connection is
shown in Fig. 23.
6.2. Model validation
The comparisons between the simulation results and test results are

12
C. Yun et al. Engineering Structures 241 (2021) 112136

Fig. 23. Finite element model of 1/4 scale SCBC connection.

Fig. 25. Geometric size of full-scale SCBC connection.
shown in Fig. 24. The simulation results are in good accordance with the
test results, confirming that the established finite element model can
capture the cyclic response of the SCBC connection and the modeling
method is reasonable and correct.

6.3. The self-centering capability of the full-scale SCBC connection

On basis of the model validation, a full-scale SCBC connection model

is developed using same modeling method to investigate the self-
centering capability of the full-scale SCBC connection under cyclic
loading. Geometric size of full-scale SCBC connection is shown in
Fig. 25. The middle beam and short beam were made up of H sections
with the dimensions of 450 × 450 × 10 × 12 mm. The vertical lengths of
the middle beam and short beam were 3000 mm and 400 mm, respec­
tively. The column was fabricated from H-section with the dimension of
500 × 500 × 12 × 14 mm. The horizontal length of the column was
3200 mm. A 50 mm gap was set between the middle beam and the short
beam. According to the design standard of the disc spring, a type A disc
spring with the 80-mm outer diameter, the 41-mm inner diameter and
the 6.7-mm height was adopted. 450kN initial pre-tensions were applied
to the high-strength bolt of the RFH and the initial pre-compression axial
deformation of the CCDS is 15 mm. The design loading displacement of
full scale SCBC connection is 100 mm which is equal to 1/30 inter-story
drift. The finite element model of full scale SCBC connection is shown in
Fig. 26.
Fig. 26. Finite element model of full-scale SCBC connection.
As shown in Fig. 27, full double flag-shaped hysteresis curves of the
full-scale connection model are also observed and the residual de­
formations of the connection model are found to be negligible. It con­
400
firms that the full-scale SCBC connection is still capable of good energy
300
120 Test results 200
Simulation results 100
Force(kN)

80
0
40 -100
Force(kN)

0 -200
-300
-40
-400
-180 -120 -60 0 60 120 180
-80 Displacement(mm)

-120 Fig. 27. Hysteresis curves of full-scale SCBC connection model in the design
-60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 loading displacement.
Displacement(mm)

Fig. 24. Comparison of test results and simulation results.

13
C. Yun et al.
dissipation capacity and reliable self-centering capability in both posi­
tive and negative loading direction.
7. Conclusions
An innovative prefabricated SCBC connection was developed and 1/
4 scale cyclic tests were conducted. The design methodology and
restoring force model were proposed through theoretical analysis. Ac­
cording to the experimental and analytical results, conclusions are
drawn as follows:
(1) The SCBC connection dissipated seismic energy through the
rotation friction behavior and re-centered to its original position
through the self-centering moment provided by the CCDS. Flag-
shaped hysteresis curves were found for the SCBC connection,
indicating good energy dissipation capacity and satisfactory self-
centering capability were achieved.
(2) In the whole loading process, the connection remained elastic and
the energy dissipation capacity was mainly contributed by the
RFH. The groups of disc springs can provide stable self-centering
moment for the SCBC connection in both positive and negative
loading direction.
(3) The peak strength and energy dissipation capacity of the SCBC
connection could be enhanced by increasing the initial pre-
tension force of high strength bolts of the RFH. The residual
deformation could be effectively reduced when the self-centering
moment provided by the CCDS was sufficiently large to overcome
the rotation friction moment supported by the RFH.
(4) The calculation results based on the restoring force model pro­
posed in this paper agreed well with the experimental results,
conforming that the proposed restoring force model could
reasonably predict the hysteretic behavior of the SCBC connec­
tion and can be used to design this type of connection for future
works.
(5) On basis of the finite element simulation results, it demonstrates
that the full-scale SCBC connection is still capable of good energy
dissipation capacity and reliable self-centering capability under
cyclic loading.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgement
Financial support for this study was provided by the High-level
Talent Program Foundation of Hainan basic and applied basic research
plan in Natural Science Field under Grant No. 2019RC109, the National
Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 51968020, the
Open Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Disaster Reduction in Civil
Engineering under Grant No. SLDRCE18-02, the Natural Science Foun­
dation of Zhejiang province, China under Grant No. LQ18E080007, and
the Fundamental Research Funds for Zhejiang University of Science and
Technology under Grant No. 2019QN52.
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