Seismic retrofit of welded steel moment connections with highly composite floor slabs

In the 1994 Northridge earthquake, connection damage initiated from the beam bottom flange was prevalent in welded steel moment frames. The composite action due to the presence of a concrete floor slab was speculated as one of the critical causes of the prevalent bottom flange fracture. Close review of past experimental studies recently conducted by the authors clearly indicated that conventional steel moment connections with highly composite slabs are much more vulnerable to the bottom flange fracture. In this study, three seismic retrofit schemes are presented for welded steel moment connections with highly composite floor slabs typical of existing steel moment frames in Korea. Because top flange modification of existing beams is not feasible due to the presence of a concrete floor slab, beam bottom flange or web modifications by using welded triangular or straight haunch and heavy shear tab were cyclically tested. Test results of this study showed that all the retrofit schemes used are effective in eliminating the detrimental effect caused by high composite action and can ensure excellent connection plastic rotation exceeding 4% rad. Side effects resulting from retrofit as well as design recommendations are also discussed.