Analysis and comparison of connections in steel structures

The topic of connections is often given only limited attention in structural analysis and design of buildings, despite the fact that they can play a critical role in the structure. It is customary practice in the U.S. for the structural engineer to design the structural members, but leave the connection details to the steel fabricator. While this practice is more efficient and pragmatic in some instances, it is also necessary for structural engineers to have a good knowledge of connection behavior, especially when dealing with newer or atypical connections. Both the theoretical modeling of connections and the physical geometry and components of connections are considered in this thesis. For the theoretical modeling of connections, the concept of semi-rigid connections as an alternative to the conventional idealizations of perfectly pinned or rigid connections will be addressed. Included will be methods to model and design semi-rigid connection behavior within frames. The effects of connection behavior on frames will also be considered.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Manson, Leigh (Leigh Caroline)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Jerome J. Connor.

• Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34593

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/34593