Seismic Performance of Column-Tree Moment Connections with Slit Dampers

To fully develop the plastic deformation on the replaceable members of beam-column connections in steel frame, this paper proposes a kind of prefabricated earthquake-resilient column-tree moment connections with slit dampers. A numerical analysis was conducted to investigate the structural behavior of the proposed connection. The finite element methods were validated through comparing the numerical results with test results. The results of numerical analysis showed that the column-tree connections with slit dampers could effectively move the beam plastic hinge to the slit dampers with the main components basically being in the elastic phase. The slit width and length was the main influence parameters, and the slit numbers and the gap between the slits had almost no influence on the hysteresis behavior of column-tree connections. The design theory of the slit dampers were developed to ensure that the slit dampers yield or stability failure before the yield of the stub beam and the common beam, so as to achieve the purpose of earthquake-resilience.