ABSTRACT
SUMMARY D u r i n g t h e l a s t decade s e m i - r i g i d j o i n t s h a s f o c u s e d the a t t e n t i o n o f s e v e r a l European r e s e a r c h e r s , r e g a r d i n g n o t o n l y t h e i r a c t u a l b e h a v i o u r b u t a l s o on how and to whic h e x t e n t t h e y a l t e r t he s t a b i l i t y o f frameworks. T h a t i s t e s t i f i e d by the number o f p a p e r s , d e a l i n g w i t h t h i s s u b j e c t , p r e s e n t e d a t t h i s N a p o l i Workshop. E x t e n s i v e i n v e s t i g a t i o n s have been and a r e s t i l l c a r r i e d out i n L i e g e on t h e s e t o p i c s e i t h e r e x p e r i m e n t a l l y , o r t h e o r e t i c a l l y and n u m e r i c a l l y ; b a r e s t e e l - and composite j o i n t s a r e o f c o n c e r n . A c c o u n t i n g f o r t h e scope o f the Workshop, p r e s e n t paper i s r e s t r i c t e d to s e v e r a l a s p e c t s o f the t e s t i n g .
