@article{f57dbe649ba7451398a4fa29e8a01445,
title = "Experimental study of intermeshed steel connections manufactured using advanced cutting techniques",
abstract = "Advanced manufacturing techniques, such as plasma, waterjet, and laser can facilitate field assembly and disassembly of steel structural components, and therefore potentially transform how steel structures are designed and constructed. These techniques have opened up an opportunity to create a new class of steel connections that rely on intermeshed (i.e. interlocked) components in lieu of traditional connectors such as weld and bolt. This paper presents an experimental investigation on the mechanics of such intermeshed steel connections manufactured by high-definition plasma and waterjet cutting. Four full-scale specimens with an intermeshed connection were designed to resist gravity loading in steel frames. The experimental testing program focused on the behavior of intermeshed connections under vertical loads including pure flexural and combined flexural-shear loading. Both global load-deflection response and local deformation were measured to provide insights into the complex load transfer mechanisms. The experiments demonstrated ample load carrying capacity, approaching the beam plastic moment, and ample ductility, approaching a deflection over span length ratio of 1/60 to 1/40, through the interaction of individual components. Analysis of the test data also raises important questions that must be addressed for the practical design of these connections.",
keywords = "Construction, Experiment, Intermeshed, Plasma, Steel connections, Waterjet",
author = "Shemshadian, {Mohammad E.} and Ramzi Labbane and Schultz, {Arturo E.} and Le, {Jia Liang} and Laefer, {Debra F.} and Salam Al-Sabah and Patrick McGetrick",
note = "Funding Information: This paper was part of a multi-institutional project between University of Minnesota, University College Dublin, and Queen's University Belfast. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by National Science Foundation (NSF) through the grant CMMI-1563115 , by Science Foundation Ireland through grant SFI/15/US/B3234 , by the Department for the Economy (DfE) and Invest Northern Ireland (InvestNI) through grant USI-096 , and by Enterprise Ireland through grant CF20160454 . The authors are very grateful to the American Institute for Steel Construction (AISC) for donating the steel beams, angles and plates that were used to build the test specimens. Lastly, the authors express their appreciation to the CEGE Department at the University of Minnesota for providing the second author (Ramzi Labbane) a 1-year Departmental Fellowship. Funding Information: This paper was part of a multi-institutional project between University of Minnesota, University College Dublin, and Queen's University Belfast. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by National Science Foundation (NSF) through the grant CMMI-1563115, by Science Foundation Ireland through grant SFI/15/US/B3234, by the Department for the Economy (DfE) and Invest Northern Ireland (InvestNI) through grant USI-096, and by Enterprise Ireland through grant CF20160454. The authors are very grateful to the American Institute for Steel Construction (AISC) for donating the steel beams, angles and plates that were used to build the test specimens. Lastly, the authors express their appreciation to the CEGE Department at the University of Minnesota for providing the second author (Ramzi Labbane) a 1-year Departmental Fellowship. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 Elsevier Ltd",
year = "2020",
month = sep,
doi = "10.1016/j.jcsr.2020.106169",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "172",
journal = "Journal of Constructional Steel Research",
issn = "0143-974X",
publisher = "Elsevier BV",
}