Civil Engineering Association

THE EFFECT OF BOLTED FRAMES ON THE EARTHQUAKE RESISTANCE OF STRUCTURAL STEEL BUILDINGS

Observations after the 1994 Northridge earthquake revealed the limited ductility
capacity of welded connections. It has been established that typical welded connections
are susceptible to abrupt stiffness and strength loss at rotations as low as 1/10th of the
presumed ductility capacity. Furthermore, variations in the ductility capacity of
“improved” welded connections reflect the effects of inevitable variations in the weld
quality. It has also been demonstrated that bolted frames originally designed for gravity
loads retain their lateral load resisting capacity up to interstory drift ratios of three
percent. In this study, the possibility of improving the earthquake resistance of structural
steel buildings by utilizing the stable and ductile response of bolted frames was
investigated. Based on a satisfactory limit to interstory drift ratio set as two percent, the
earthquake resistances of representative three- and nine-story steel buildings designed for
regions of high seismicity were found to be inadequate. Reductions in the interstory drift
ratios were obtained by increasing the stiffness of bolted interior frames. Ultimately, it
was demonstrated that, subjected to equal ground-motion demands, buildings with bolted
frames are more likely to sustain interstory drift ratios not exceeding two percent than
comparable buildings with welded perimeter frames and bolted interior frames.

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