ABSTRACT
The peculiarities and advantages of Post-Tensioned Energy Dissipating (PTED) beam-to-column connections for steel moment resisting frames in seismic areas, which principally consist in the capability of sustaining severe seismic events with neither residual displacements in the whole structure nor appreciable damage in the main structural elements, have been widely described in recent years. With specific regard to the behaviour of beam-to-column assemblages, both experimental and numerical investigations, essentially focused on the assessment of the cyclic performances of PTED connections arranged with different Post-Tensioned (PT) and Energy Dissipating (ED) systems, have been carried out (Ricles et al., 2001, 2002; Christopoulos et al., 2002a, b; Garlock et al., 2005; Rojas et al., 2005; Wolski et al., 2006; Chou et al., 2006; Tsai et al., 2007).
