ATLSS Connections with Moment Capacity

Garlock, Richard B.; Lu, Le-Wu; Viscomi, B. Vincent; ,

ATLSS Connections with Moment Capacity

by Richard B. Garlock, Lehigh Univ, Bethlehem, United States,
Le-Wu Lu, (M.ASCE), Lehigh Univ, Bethlehem, United States,
B. Vincent Viscomi, (M.ASCE), Lehigh Univ, Bethlehem, United States,

Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Structures Congress XII

Abstract:

ATLSS Connections are a family of beam-to-column connections which utilize the self-aligning feature of a specially designed connector and are developed for possible use in an automated construction process. Work previously reported describes the design, erection, and structural characteristics of the connector acting as a shear attachment. The work has now been expanded to develop connections, using the ATLSS connector, to achieve moment capacity. Three different connection configurations, involving the use of shop welded and field bolted details and having varying degrees of restraint, were studied experimentally and analytically. Five tests were conducted on exterior connections, scaled from a prototype frame which had been designed based on the current practice. Erection of the test connections in the laboratory was performed with ease. Loading programs were both monotonic and cyclic, thus allowing for the assessment of static strength and stiffness as well as energy dissipation of the connections. Two types of finite element analyses were performed to predict the behavior of the test connections. The ATLSS Connector aided fully restrained connection achieved 1.11 M_p (plastic moment of the beam) in negative bending and 1.12 M_p in positive bending. The partially restrained connection aided by an ATLSS Connector achieved 0.97 M_p in negative bending and 0.59 M_p in positive bending. While acting as a mid-web shear attachment, the ATLSS Connector contributed up to 16% of the moment capacity. Comparison between the experimental results and the finite element analyses showed that the analytical models with detailed connection representations offer reasonable predictions of the yield load, yield deflection, and initial stiffness of the connections.

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