An Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Steel Beam-Column Connection with Sacrificial Components Under Pseudo-Static Loading

Web-opening beams are gaining increased importance in the steel construction industry. This study presents a comprehensive numerical and experimental analysis of steel beam-column connections equipped with web-opening hot-rolled replaceable fuses. Experimental investigations were conducted on various fuses under pseudo-static loading, including those with circular, elliptical, and square web openings, both with and without stiffeners. These fuses are referred to as Reduced Web with Circular opening (RWC), Reduced Web with Elliptical opening (RWE), and Reduced Web with Square opening (RWS). The primary objective is to relocate the plastic hinge away from the column face and integrate replaceable features to improve the connection’s seismic performance. Key seismic parameters, such as moment-rotation behavior, ductility, stiffness degradation, and energy dissipation, were extracted from the analyses. Additionally, a numerical parametric study was performed by varying the opening sizes and the thickness of the stiffening plates. A total of 18 fuses were analyzed numerically using ABAQUS software, adhering to the cyclic load protocols outlined in AISC 341–16. The results indicate that the RWC90-4 fuse exhibited the highest moment-carrying capacity of 70 kNm, which is 9.7% and 12.4% higher capacities than RWE90-4 and RWS90-4, respectively. Furthermore, it was observed that the fuse with a 90 mm circular opening and a 4 mm stiffening plate demonstrated superior energy dissipation of 13.75 kJ, which was 53% and 21% higher than RWE90-4 and RWS90-4 in the 30th loading cycle, respectively. This research contributes to the development of more resilient steel structures by identifying the optimal fuse design to enhance the seismic performance of beam-column connections.