THEORETICAL STUDY AND EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION OF THE MECHANICAL MECHANISM OF SHEAR LINK DEVICES

Based on the classical construction details of shear link devices (SLDs), a mechanical model was built. The semi-inverse method in elastic mechanics was adopted to study its stress distribution pattern. The initial stiffness K, post-yield stiffness K', yield force F_y and yield displacement u_y were also studied theoretically. Due to deficiencies of conventional methods for identifying the yield point, a new method based on the Bouc-Wen model and simulated annealing was proposed to identify the equivalent yield point of shear link devices. Finally, a quasi-static monotonic loading test was carried out for verification. The results demonstrate that the stress distribution in the web plate and the mechanical performance parameters calculated by the analytical solution comply with the finite element analysis results and the test results. The proposed method can effectively identify the equivalent yield point and corresponding mechanical performance parameters of the shear link device, and the simulated force-displacement curve fits well with the monotonic test curve. The results of the study may provide effective reference for the design, evaluation and further research of shear link devices.