The behavior of steel beam-column, moment-resistant connections has been under intense review since the Northridge earthquake of January, 1994. These connections are traditionally designed assuming that the beam moment is applied to the column primarily through a top and bottom beam flange force couple while the web connection transfers the applied shear. However, these assumptions may not be appropriate to accurately represent the stress distribution within the connection. Therefore, the demand on the various connecting elements, particularly the full penetration groove welds, is not adequately predicted.; A re-examination of the load path through the steel beam-column moment-resistant connection and the resulting demand on the connecting elements for various cover plate reinforced moment connection configurations is pursued. Three-dimensional finite element models of test specimens used to represent the behavior of typical beam-column connections at an exterior column of a multi-story steel frame are developed. These models include variations in the modeling of the cover plate attachment, the size of the weld access hole, and the column panel zone yield strength. The connection models are loaded through a displacement history applied to the beam free end consistent with previous and concurrent experimental tests. Results from the analytical models indicate that cover plate reinforced connections reduces the average normal stress at the critical beam-column interface by 50% compared with the non-reinforced connection. However, the maximum stresses at the critical beam-column interface are reduced by only 25%.
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