The Effect of Bolt Pre-tension Levels on Behavior of Bolted Unstiffened End Plate Beam-to-Column Connections under Cyclic Testing

During the construction of steel structures, the executive groups often fabricate some stories and tighten the connection bolts, defined as the snug-tightened bolt in this research. The lower stories, in which the connection bolts are snug-tightened, will be pre-tensioned at least to the level of preloading based on design codes, called pre-tensioned bolts, in this paper. The connections will be complete, while some upper stories will have snug-tightened bolts. As a result, the stiffness of the bolted connections varies throughout construction, and the structural characteristics change with time. So it is necessary to investigate the seismic behavior of bolted extended end-plate moment connections in both snug-tightened and pre-tensioned bolts while constructing high-rise structures. Bolted unstiffened end plate moment connections are one of the most usable connections used as prequalified connections in special steel moment frames. According to the AISC design code, this connection can be considered one of the most important parts of moment-resisting frames with enough bolt pre-tension levels. In this paper, using three full-scale bolted unstiffened end plate moment connections designed according to AISC, the effects of bolt pre-tension levels have been examined experimentally under SAC cyclic loading protocol. Bolt pre-tension level has been defined as α coefficient to show the pre-tensioning level in three specimens. The bolts of the first specimen are not pre-tensioned, called snug-tightened bolts, and is reference connection. The bolt pre-tension levels of the second and third specimens were created in accordance with AISC and Iranian National design code and more to Fu of bolts, called pre-tensioned and fully pre-tensioned, respectively. The bolts' moment capacity, total energy absorption, initial rotational stiffness, ductility of connection, and stress and strain variation are investigated. According to the results, an increase in bolt pre-tension level would significantly improve the cyclic behavior of connections. Further, an increase in bolt pre-tension led to the initiation of the inelastic deformation from a minor rotation, and the ductility of the connection improved. The results show that the increase in moment capacity and energy dissipation in the pre-tensioned compared to snug-tightened is 27 and 23%, respectively. However, In comparison with the pre-tensioned, the fully pre-tensioned specimen has increased by 11 and 9%, respectively. As a result, the connection with bolt pre-tension level, under design regulations in comparison with the reference connection, can be considered a connection of a special moment resisting frames. So bolt pre-tension level higher than the value mentioned in the design code is better but not needed.