CAST CONNECTIONS FOR CONCENTRICALLY BRACED FRAMES UNDER SEISMIC LOADS

SUMMARY
The modern use of steel castings to simplify tubular connections began in the design of offshore oil structures. Since the first casting was used in an oil platform, castings gained popularity for use in both off and onshore structures in Europe. The trend has now spread to North America. The geometric and material flexibility inherent in castings makes them well suited for high performance applications such as connections for lateral load resisting systems in seismically critical structures. The purpose of this research project is to develop a structural connector for concentrically braced frames in seismic loading conditions.

PUBLICATIONS
de Oliveira J.-C, Gray M. G., Packer J.A., and Christopoulos C., (2008) Standardized Cast Steel Connectors for Tubular Hollow Structural Sections, Canadian Society of Civil Engineers 37th Annual Conference, June.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Michael Gray is Vice President of Advanced Technologies at Cast Connex Corporation. Through the course of his PhD Michael developed the Yielding Brace System which is currently being commercialized by Cast ConneX under the brand name Scorpion. Michael has been the recipient of several additional academic awards including the Kellerman fellowships and the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering’s Donald Jamieson Award. He is also the co-recipient of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering’s Award for Excellence in Innovation in Civil Engineering.  Michael may be contacted at m.gray@castconnex.com.