ABSTRACT
A test specimen is shown in Figure 1. It consists of a short-span beam (test section), two hollow-section columns, and two outer stub beams, and includes beam-to-column connections.
Additional loading tests were performed on seven specimens. All specimens were designed to fail in shear. Details are shown in Figure 2 and Table 1. A detail of A-2 specimen is also shown in Figure 2. A-2 specimen was tested in our previous study1, 2 and a standard specimen with beam-end bolts and a welded connection. Experimental parameters are width-thickness ratio of web plate (d/tw: d is the web height, tw is the web thickness), shear span ratio (M/Qd), ratio α (ratio of shear strength for full plastic moment considering only beam flange to shear yield strength of beam web) and stiffened web detail (with or without web stiffeners) as shown in Table 1. The ratio α is defined as:
α = 2Mfp/wQpL (1)
where Mfp: Full plastic moment of beam considering only
beam flange
1 INTRODUCTION
In our previous study1,2, in order to prevent brittle fracture at beam-end weld connections of short-span beam, a shear yield precedence short-span beam (short-span beam) was proposed. Shear-bending cyclic loading tests and simulation analyses with FEM were performed to investigate the structural behavior of the short-span beam. A method for evaluating the maximum strength was also proposed. From these results, a properly designed short-span beam had good plastic deformation capacity. The cyclic FEM analysis was very useful in predicting the structural behavior of short-span beams. The proposed method for evaluating maximum strength showed good accordance with the test results of a previous study1.
