| Following the Northridge earthquake of Jan. 17, 1994 steel moment-frame buildings experienced brittle fractures in beam-to-column connections. This event introduced the ideas of the reduced beam section (RBS) and the welded flange plate connection as mentioned in FEMA 350 (FEMA 2000), which significantly improve the overall ductility of the structures.; Based on these facts, the study focuses on the performance of reinforced side plate steel moment connection other than those connections presented by FEMA 350, insuring that a plastic hinge formation to occur in the beam away from the column face. The analysis and modeling of the steel moment reinforced side plate connection was performed by using finite element analysis software. Five different beam-to-column combinations were modeled in a half-beam and half-column configuration with the same boundary conditions and a vertical load applied to the end of the beam section. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
