Investigating the effect of column axial force on the flexural behavior of prefabricated steel moment connection with through-plate panel zone system under monotonic loading

In steel moment frames, there are still many challenges in connecting a beam to a column at any angle and in any number. In this study, as the innovation of the research, a prefabricated steel moment connection with through-plate panel zone system was proposed, which can connect a beam to a column as a moment connection at any desired angle with any number of beams. Then, the effect of column axial force on the behavior of this connection was investigated as the main objective of the study, under monotonic loading in two cases of connection zone with four and six through plates. To verify the modeling procedure in ABAQUS, a prefabricated steel connection with available experimental results with good similarity to the proposed connection was modeled using ABAQUS and the experimental and numerical results were then compared. Afterward, the connection behavior in cases where the axial force on the column is equal to 10 to 60 percent of its axial capacity was evaluated with 10 percent iterations. The results indicated that in all models, the plastic hinge formed outside the connection area and beyond the top and bottom plates. Furthermore, the short column that acts as a connection zone did not yield in any models and had acceptable performance. It was also observed that by increasing the axial force up to 20 percent of the column axial capacity, the initial connection stiffness doesn’t change.