Seismic behavior and damage assessment of mid-rise cold-formed steel-framed buildings with normal and reinforced beam-column joints

This paper investigated the effects of normal and reinforced beam–column joints on seismic behavior and damages of mid-rise cold-formed steel (CFS) framed buildings, where the reinforced beam–column joint is strengthened by a pair of steel blocks and a gusset plate. Shaking table tests were conducted on a 5-story CFS frame building with normal beam-column joint (CFSM-NJ) and a 5-story CFS frame building with same configurations but with reinforced beam–column joint (CFSM-RJ). Formulae fitted from four damage models were used to assess the seismic damage indexes of these test buildings, and the assessed results were validated by the damage indexes observed from tests. The results show the following: (1) the CFSM-NJ failed due to plastic hinges formed at the column bases and large separate deformation at the beam-column joints; however, the weaken-story failure mode was appeared on the CFSM-RJ; (2) the peak inter-story displacement of the building was reduced about 10–30% due to the reinforced beam-column joints; (3) the Park-Ang model is more appropriate for seismic damage assessment of column bases, but all the damage models overestimates the seismic damages of CFS beams. Finally, the authors comment on the difference between the assessed seismic damage indexes and the observed results, and the maximum damage indexes obtained from the simplified formulae are recommended as the preliminary assessed damages for mid-rise CFS buildings.