ABSTRACT
Abstract A full scale three-story one-bay steel moment resisting frame has been constructed and tested pseudo-dynamically at the European Laboratory for Structural Assessment (ELSA) -Reaction Wall Facility at Ispra. The frame connections and shear panel zones have been designed with Eurocode 8 (ECS) . The objectives of this research were on one hand to study the seismic behavior of a realistic steel frame, conduct numerical seismic time-history frame analyses using available computer models and on the other hand to identify potential up-dating needs in the Eurocodes. The test results have demonstrated that the steel frame structure had flexible beam-to-column joints and connections. Under seismic loading, plastic hinges were formed in those locations and not in the girder-ends as anticipated in ECS. Both the study of the experimental and analytical results showed the necessity to size the joint shear panel zone using Allowable Stress Design (ASD) criteria. Keywords: Pseudo-dynamic Testing, Steel Moment Resisting Frames, Seismic Behavior.
