VULNERABILITY REDUCTION OF STEEL MOMENT RESISTING FRAMES BY MEANS OF REDUCED BEAM SECTION

摘要

The idea and the developed example of this work are based on the attainment of seismic performance improvement by simply trimming the flanges of the beam-ends. This strategy is to be applied by considering both the results of the theory of plastic mechanism control and the rules assuring the yielding of reduced beam sections (RBS) when seismic loads are applied to the structure. The results of such strategy are not always effective. In fact, there are several conditions that are to be satisfied in order to obtain an actual seismic improvement. Notwithstanding, when these conditions are satisfied, the cost of intervention can be considered as negligible. For this reason, this strategy can be very interesting and the rules applied in this work can clarify which is the effect of RBS taking into account all the parameters playing a role in the final design, i.e. existing column sections, resistance and ductility of existing connections, vertical loads acting in seismic load combination, amount of the reduction of beam section and its distance from the connection.