A PSEUDO-DYNAMIC TEST STUDY ON A SELF-CENTERING PREFABRICATED STEEL FRAME WITH A COLUMN BASE CONNECTED BY SEMI-RIGID JOINTS

Self-centering steel frame structures are advantageous in that they can control structural damage, reduce or eliminate residual deformation, and are easy to repair after strong earthquakes. A self-centering prefabricated steel frame with a column base connected by semi-rigid joints (SPSF-SRJ) is proposed in the present study. The goal is to address the problem of excessive plasticity that a self-centering prefabricated frame with a column base connected by rigid joints exhibits. In addition, a pseudo-dynamic test is performed on the sub-structure of the proposed system to investigate and discuss the seismic performance of the system, which is then compared with the seismic performance of a self-centering prefabricated steel frame with a column base connected by rigid joints (SPSF-RJ). The test results show that the proposed performance-based design goal can be realized in the SPSF-SRJ. The semi-rigid joints effectively protect the column base and eliminate or reduce the damage to the columns; after an earthquake, only the steel beams require repairs, which significantly reduces the post-earthquake repair cost.