Earthquake papers Reliability of steel frame systems with semi-rigid connections H.P Hong & S. Wang September 2003 ICLR Research Paper Series - No. 35
Abstract
Often the connections of steel frames are assumed to be fully rigid or ideally pinned when evaluate the system reliability of steel frames, although it is well known that such idealization may not be adequate since the connections are better modeled as semi-rigid connections.This study is focused on evaluating the reliability of steel frame systems with rigid connections and with semirigid connections.The system reliability of frames is assessed using simulation technique.The limit state function for the system reliability analysis is established based on the collapse load factor which is obtained using the second-order refined plastic-hinge analysis method.The uncertainty considered are the loads and material yield strength.The results indicate that although the reliability of frame systems with rigid connections is always higher than that of frame systems with semirigid connections, however, from reliability point of view, in most cases their differences are not very significant.Therefore, it appears that if the quality control of the construction of the connections is adequate, the consideration of whether the connections are rigid or semirigid does not significantly impact the system reliability, although it could affect the estimated expected cost of the system which includes the initial cost and cost of collapse.