Seismic Performance of Modular Steel-Braced Frames Utilizing Superelastic Shape Memory Alloy Bolts in the Vertical Module Connections

Authors

Papia Sultana, Western University
Maged A. Youssef, Western UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2020

Journal

Journal of Earthquake Engineering

Volume

24

Issue

4

First Page

628

URL with Digital Object Identifier

https://doi.org/10.1080/13632469.2018.1453394

Last Page

652

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

Abstract

In modular construction, individual modules are constructed at a controlled industrial environment before being transported to site. They are then connected horizontally and vertically to form a structure. The vertical connections can be achieved by welding or bolting the columns of stacked modules. This study investigates the seismic performance of modular steel-braced frames (MSBFs) connected vertically using superelastic shape memory alloy (SMA) bolts. The study also identifies the required locations of SMA connections, in a typical MSBF, to optimize its seismic performance in terms of maximum inter-story drift (MID), maximum residual inter-story residual drift (MRID), and damage scheme.