Designing for Ductile Performance of Bolted Seismic Connections to Axially Loaded Members

Field bolted connections are often the safest and most economical option for structural steel erection. It is therefore desirable to maintain the use and economy of field bolted connections as an option for seismically loaded structures, even within the seismic load resisting system. This paper addresses two aspects of the AISC 2005 Seismic Provisions for Structural Steel Buildings: bolted joints and the requirement that vertical brace connections be designed for the expected tensile strength of the brace as stipulated for ordinary concentrically braced frames and special concentrically braced frames.