Moment-resisting connection with RBS under cyclic loading Abaqus

Product Overview

In this project, a moment-resisting connection with reduced beam section (RBS) is modeled in Abaqus and its behavior under cyclic loading is investigated.

The numerical model is developed based on an experimental study reported in the reference article. The Abaqus results are compared with the experimental results to evaluate the accuracy of the numerical model.

Model Description

The connection consists of an HE 180A beam connected to an HE 300B column. The beam flanges are reduced near the beam-to-column connection using a radius-cut RBS to concentrate inelastic deformation within the reduced region.

The column panel zone is strengthened using doubler web plates and continuity plates. The beam and column are connected by welded details, and the model includes the main structural components required to reproduce the behavior of the experimental connection.

The required material properties, interactions, boundary conditions, and analysis settings are defined in Abaqus to reproduce the behavior of the experimental connection.

Cyclic Loading

The connection is subjected to cyclic displacement loading to investigate its nonlinear response under repeated loading. The displacement is applied at the top of the beam at a distance of 1.00 m from the column face.

The loading history is defined using the Amplitude option in Abaqus. The connection is then analyzed under repeated loading and unloading cycles.

Moment–Rotation Response

The moment–rotation response of the connection is obtained from the Abaqus results after performing the cyclic analysis.

The numerical results are extracted and processed to obtain the Moment–Rotation diagram of the connection.

Deformation and Buckling Behavior

The numerical results show that the inelastic deformation is mainly concentrated within the Reduced Beam Section (RBS), allowing the plastic hinge to form away from the beam-to-column interface. During the initial yielding stage, yielding first develops in the bottom flange within the RBS and then progressively spreads along the reduced region.

As the cyclic displacement increases, yielding also develops in the top flange. With further deformation, local buckling begins to develop in the bottom flange and becomes more pronounced as the loading continues. This is followed by local buckling of the beam web near the yielded flange.

At larger deformation levels, the local buckling of the flanges and web extends over a significant portion of the RBS region. Despite these local deformations and buckling effects, the connection maintains a stable cyclic response without significant deterioration of the hysteresis loops.

Experimental Validation

The Moment–Rotation diagram obtained from Abaqus is compared with the experimental results reported in the reference article.

This comparison is used to evaluate the ability of the numerical model to reproduce the behavior of the experimental connection under cyclic loading.

This project has been validated, which means that the results obtained from Abaqus are similar to the results reported in the article. In other words, this project is based on the experimental study.

Key Features

• Numerical modeling of a moment-resisting RBS connection.
• Modeling of the RBS beam and column.
• Modeling of the continuity plate.
• Modeling of the doubler web plate and stiffener.
• Cyclic loading of the beam.
• Nonlinear analysis under cyclic loading.
• Moment–Rotation response.
• Comparison with experimental results.
• Validated Abaqus numerical model.
• Complete Abaqus model files.
• Excel file for amplitude loading.
• Excel file containing numerical results.
• Reference research paper.
• Step-by-step video tutorial.

What You Will Learn

• How to model a moment-resisting connection with RBS in Abaqus.
• How to define the geometry of the RBS beam and column.
• How to model the continuity plate.
• How to model the doubler web plate and stiffener.
• How to define the material properties of the structural components.
• How to define the interactions between the different components.
• How to define the boundary conditions of the model.
• How to apply cyclic loading to the beam.
• How to define cyclic loading using the Amplitude option in Abaqus.
• How to perform nonlinear analysis under cyclic loading.
• How to obtain a Moment–Rotation diagram.
• How to extract and process Abaqus results using Excel.
• How to compare numerical and experimental results.

Reference

This project is based on the experimental study provided in the reference research paper. The paper is included with the project files and can be used to review the experimental configuration, loading procedure, and reported results.