The effect of using different types of material hardening models on the accuracy of modeling the cyclic behavior of steel components and RBS connection

The focus on new connections, including the reduced beam section (RBS), and their ductility investigations in the plastic range increased after the disastrous earthquakes of Northridge and Kobe and the observation of the brittle behavior of moment steel frame connections. On the other hand, the importance of the cyclic behavior of steel components and its difference from the uniform loading state has led to the development of several models for modeling cyclic loading plastic deformation in recent years. In this paper, the investigation of the methods of cyclic behavior modeling and RBS connection simulation under cyclic loads by using the material’s different hardening behaviors in the Abaqus software have been taken into account with considering the high cost of laboratory modeling, the progress of finite element software, and the importance of accurate and realistic modeling. Moreover, the numerical hysteresis curve has been compared with the experimental curve. Various behaviors of modeling, including the model with elastic–perfect plastic hardening, isotropic, kinematic, and combined Armstrong-Frederick models with parameters provided by other researchers, have been investigated. The obtained results indicate that the hysteresis curve of the model with parametric combined hardening is more compatible with the experimental hysteresis curve, and the surface under the hysteresis diagram in the kinematic hardening state is closer to the parametric combined hardening model than in the isotropic and elastic – perfect plastic states.