Parametric study and finite element analysis of self-centring steel column bases with different structural properties

In recent years there have been significant advancements in the definitions of innovative seismic-resilient structural systems, chasing the urgent need to reduce repair costs and downtime in the aftermath of severe earthquake events. In this regard, self-centring Column Bases (CBs) represent a promising solution to improve the seismic performance of steel Moment Resisting Frames (MRFs) for both damage and residual drifts reductions. However, although several technologies have been conceived, studied, and experimentally tested in this direction, only a few research studies investigated the significant properties of the connections influencing the behaviour of these systems. In this context, the present study focuses on the steel damage-free Self-Centring Column Base (SC-CB) previously investigated by the authors and performs a parametric Finite Element (FE) analysis to evaluate the influence of some design parameters over the global and local response of the joints. An advanced FE model is developed in ABAQUS and validated against experimental results. Successively, FE models of three SC-CBs belonging to different case-study MRFs are developed considering sixteen Configurations for each case characterised by different design parameters and structural properties. The parametric analysis provides a more comprehensive view of the assumptions and limitations of the design methodology and suggests additional recommendations to improve the design requirements of the SC-CB connections.