SEismic performance of steel-concrete composite MOment REsisting frames – Effect of system reduction in testing and modelling (SEeMOREEffect)

• Applicant: Dr.-Ing. Rebekka Winkler
• Subject Area: Structural Engineering, Building Informatics and Construction Operation
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 519098099

This research plan outlines the intended investigations to be performed by the Chair of Steel, Lightweight and Composite Structures of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum on the influence of system reduction on the seismic performance of steel-concrete composite frames. The plan presents the background of moment resistant composite frame structures and on concrete-filled double steel tube columns, the effects of system reduction – conducted for reinforced concrete frames and pure numerical investigations so far – as well as a comprehensive work package plan. Steel-concrete composite moment-resisting frames (MRFs) with concrete-filled steel tubes (CFSTs) are modern structures that offer significant advantages as main load-bearing systems in building structures, especially under seismic loads. Concrete-filled double steel tubes (CFDST) are a meaningful and effective advancement of CFSTs. CFDST facilitate slender architectural solutions for high load-levels and speedy construction processes. The assessment of the overall performance and seismic behavior of such global structures is primarily based on experiments, which are mainly carried out on small units and reduced systems respectively. The reduction of such a global system into small units for experimental testing automatically leads to individual effects not being considered in the evaluation of the overall performance. Systematic studies on the influence of the system reduction in an experimental study on the seismic behavior of global frame structures are missing so far. Therefore, the principal research issues of the SEeMOREEffect-project are as follows: (i) What effect has the system reduction of a complex frame structure in a test set-up and experimental procedure on the fundamental behavior of modern composite MRF-structures under seismic loads? (ii) Could these effects in the same extent be captured in a reliable model, to predict the seismic behavior of frame substructures? (iii) And is it possible to capture these effects via analytical approaches to include them in a surrogate model in order to analyze the seismic behavior of global frame structures? The SEeMOREEffect-project aims at answering the questions by a comprehensive work program with numerical and analytical-based packages and the focus on a targeted and rigorous test program on large-scale test specimens. With this, the SEeMOREEffect-project is the first systematic study utilizing the direct comparison of experimental results on composite substructure and subassemblies to analyze the effect of the degree of system reduction and thus the influence of the experimental technique on the assessment of the global seismic behavior.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Markus Knobloch