FEASIBILITY STUDY ON THE USE OF SLIDING HINGE JOINTS FOR RESILIENT STRUCTURES

Because of the technological and economic growth, engineering systems have to meet ever-increasing
architectural and performance challenges. The need to build resilient structural systems requires high
performances and limited damage in the structures. Structures need not only to withstand extreme
loading conditions (seismic events, fire, blasts, impact, etc.) but also they should be able to exhibit low
damage and assure an adequate reparability. Resilient constructions are conceived to avoid structural
and non-structural damage in order to reduce post event repair costs. In this work, Sliding Hinge Joint
(SHJ) for MRFs have been investigated with reference to MRFs. Such connections are equipped with
a Symmetric Friction Connection (SFC) working as a damper as the main source of energy dissipation.
However, the main goal of this paper is to check the proper functioning of the device for the whole
life of the system. This implies the mastering of the friction at the interface and the preload evolution.
Several tests were performed on the friction connection of the SHJ in order to assess the evolution of
the preload in the bolts. Furthermore, four bolt-washer configurations are studied and compared with
the aim of identifying the best solution to safeguard the activation of the friction device under the
design slip resistance, reducing the loss of preload over time.