ABSTRACT
This research is intended to take advantage of the synergetic characteristics of steel and SMA tendon bars to develop a flexible (PR) moment resisting connection with recentering capabilities. This chapter briefly describes some past experimental and analytical research on traditional PR/CFT connections relevant to the innovative types of connection models to be developed in this study. This chapter does not intend to provide a complete and systematic literature search on that topic but rather just present some examples of how connections have been investigated in the past. In addition, previous research on recentering connections as well as prior practical uses of shape memory alloys for seismic applications will be reviewed.
