Designing gusset plates of chevron‐SCBFs through a new method

Summary A corner gusset plate possesses interfaces to both beam and column. To calculate the force demands of corner gusset plate interfaces, several methods have been proposed by researchers. No method has been proposed to determine dimensions and force demands for the gusset plates of chevron‐Special Concentrically Braced Frames (chevron‐SCBFs), so far. Generally, researchers utilize Uniform Force Method (UFM) to estimate the dimensions and force demands of chevron gusset plates. Note that the UFM was proposed for the corner gusset plates which have interfaces to both beam and column; nevertheless, there is only a gusset plate interface to beam in the gusset plates of chevron‐SCBFs. This study aims to calculate the force demands of chevron gusset plates through proposing a new method and also determine the chevron gusset plate dimensions via presenting a new procedure. Five one‐span, one‐story chevron‐SCBFs with selecting the bracing angles of 31°, 37°, 45°, 59°, and 72° for them were designed in accordance with the proposed procedure and method and thereafter developed in ABAQUS. These frames were subjected to a monotonic loading. Comparison between the results obtained from ABAQUS and those calculated using the proposed method demonstrated the accuracy of the proposed method and procedure.