With the aim of proposing possible solutions for seismic-resistant Automated Rack Supported Warehouses (ARSWs), this paper studies the possibility of using plastic ovalization of the diagonal-to-upright bolted connection to increase the global seismic performance.

In the transversal direction of the structure, diagonals are connected to the upright through a single bolt, and the leading mechanism of the connection is plastic ovalization, due to the low thickness of the diagonal element. The bearing resistance is usually far lower than the resistance of the element. Given the difficulties of increasing the bearing resistance without increasing also the resistance of the element, the idea is to exploit the possible ductility of the connection through the bearing failure mechanism and to design all the other members of the upright frame to be over-resistant with respect to that. The actual behaviour of the system is validated through the execution of an extensive experimental campaign where tensile and compression monotonic tests are performed, as well as cyclic ones, both on short and full-length elements. Various configurations of the connections are tested to see how the geometric parameters (i.e. dimension of the holes for the connection and their position) affect the resistance of the connection and the behaviour of the diagonal.