Structural Behavior of Stainless Steel End-plate Beam-to-column Minor-axis Joints with Box Panel Zone

To explore both static and seismic performances of stainless steel beam-to-column minor-axis joints, a total of four minor-axis joints with end-plate connections were designed and fabricated, involving two austenitic stainless steel joint specimens and two duplex stainless steel counterparts. All specimens were reinforced with the box panel zone. Both monotonic and cyclic loading were applied to joints, respectively, and the structural behavior of joints and the characteristics of the local zone were obtained, including failure modes, load-displacement curves, and bolt force development of joints under both static and cyclic loading. The stiffness and strength deterioration and energy dissipation capacity of joints under cyclic loading were also acquired. The test results indicated that the butt welds between the skin plate and the column flange of tested joints subject to both static and cyclic loading experienced fracture failure. The initial stiffness of austenitic stainless steel joint specimens was close to 90% of that of duplex ones, and the plastic resistance of austenitic joints was about 60%～70% of that of the latter. Hysteresis curves of joints under cyclic loading were relatively plump without a noticeable pinching phenomenon, and the degradation of stiffness and strength was observed. The energy dissipation capacity of an austenitic stainless steel joint was about three times that of a duplex stainless steel counterpart. Higher quality control of the welds was needed for beam-to-column minor-axis joints with box panel zone, and the development of the excellent ductility of stainless steels was undermined by the premature fracture of welds. The structural behavior of tested joints was simulated by elaborate finite element (FE) models generated using the ABAQUS software package. The developed FE models were validated against the test results. The obtained test results and developed FE models can be used for further studies on the structural behavior of stainless steel beam-to-column minor-axis joints with box panel zones. © 2023 Editorial Department of Journal of Sichuan University. All rights reserved.