Hysterical model of steel frame connection considering partial fracture

The fracture mechanism is introduced into an elastic-plastic model, which is composed of several non-linear springs at the end of the members. The failure assessment diagram of fracture based on the J integral theory is adopted for the calibration of the model parameters. By comparison with the experimental results, it is shown that the established model and the computation procedure can fully reflect the main characters of the hysterical behavior after partial fracture. A simplified non-linear model for connection fracture, which can be employed for whole structural analysis, is then proposed based on numerical results obtained.