Performance evaluation of high strength alloy steel cast connector under quasi-static load

High strength alloy steel cast connector refers to a bracing system to be used in James L. Greene Science Center, Columbia University in New York. The cast connectors, as the name suggests, are the connection elements in a bracing system that uses stainless steel rods as the braces instead of traditional steel sections.;The bracing system was designed to support lateral wind load. The cast connector material is A148 GR. 115/95 (ASTM A958, 2006). The nominal yield strength is fy = 95 ksi, whereas the nominal ultimate strength is fu = 115 ksi. Although the material has very high yield strength, its ductility is rather limited. Hence, limiting the use of the connectors in a quasi-static load like wind load.;This study evaluates cast connector performance under monotonic and cyclic loading. Experimental results are validated by a finite element (FE) model created in ANSYS (Chapter 4).;Initial proposed tests on the cast connector specimens showed linear performance. For loads of 2 and 2.5 times the design load (P = 275 kip), the test specimens exhibited linear behavior. Further tests with increased load were performed on a second specimen (Cast Connector 2) to obtain nonlinear behavior and connector failure modes. The non-linear portion of the curve was not well developed as one would expect for steel, which demonstrated the brittleness of the material.