Seismic behavior evaluation of semi-rigid steel frames with EEP connections under the near-fault earthquakes

Pulse shape motions and huge amount of energy applied in short duration by the near fault earthquake, cause brittle fracture in welded connections, which is widely observed in Kobe 1995 and Northridge 1994 earthquakes. Rigid connections, which are generally welded due to lack of ductility, have low energy absorption capability. On the other hand, Semi-rigid connections have a ductile behavior and have a good ability to absorb energy. The purpose of this paper is analysis and compares the behaviors of "rigid" and "EEP semi-rigid" connections in cases of "four bolt extended", "eight bolt extended stiffened" and "eight bolt, four bolts wide, extended stiffened" under the near fault earthquakes with nonlinear time history analysis by perform 3D software. The results shown that the steel frame with "four bolt extended" semi-rigid connections have appropriate performance compared to the other frames.