Design and Experiments of Web‐Open Shear‐Yielding Stud Columns

ABSTRACT

Shear‐yielding stud columns (SYSCs) are structural components that dissipate energy through shear yielding of an inelastic core (IC) and serve as seismic fuses. They are widely used to increase the lateral stiffness and strength of moment‐resisting frames. Conventional three‐segment SYSCs require welded built‐up sections, which elevates fabrication costs. This study introduces a novel web‐open SYSC (OSYSC) fabricated from a hot‐rolled wide‐flange section by creating an opening in the IC web. This opening reduces the IC's shear capacity, thereby lowering force demands on the elastic joints (EJs) and boundary beams. The effects of the opening on global flexibility and local stress concentration are investigated. A detailed design procedure, including capacity, stability, and ductility checks, is proposed to ensure that shear yielding occurs only in the IC web while the EJs remain essentially elastic. Three full‐scale OSYSC specimens, each 2.6 m tall and 800 mm deep, with different opening sizes, were evaluated under cyclically increasing displacements to verify feasibility. Analytical predictions of elastic lateral stiffness agree well with experimental values, with maximum differences of 3% and 4%. All specimens exceeded the 0.08‐radian IC rotation limit for shear links in eccentrically braced frames, as specified in AISC 341‐22. According to the results, the proposed cost‐effective OSYSCs exhibit excellent seismic performance, high ductility, and practicality in engineering applications.