ABSTRACT
For economical reasons, structural engineers prefer to use deep wide flange steel sections as columns to control the seismic drift in special moment resisting frames. Deep wide flange sections have thinner flanges and webs, and consequently reduced torsional properties compared to more conventional column sections of shallower depth. Reduced Beam Section (RBS) beam-to-column moment connections are often used in special moment resisting frames. Due to the local buckling in the RBS region and subsequent out-ofplane beam movement, this type of connection may subject the column to torsion, thereby impairing the performance of the connection. Nonlinear finite element analyses were conducted to examine the effects that a deep column has on the inelastic behavior of a RBS beam-to-column connection. The results from the study indicate that deep columns with RBS beam-to-column connections may perform satisfactory under inelastic seismic loading if the beam is adequately laterally braced.
