Cyclic performance of steel moment-resisting connections with reduced beam sections — experimental analysis and finite element model simulation

Reduced beam section (RBS) moment-resisting connections have been developed in order to provide a highly ductile response and reliable performance. Recommendations for the design and detailing of the RBS member were prescribed in EC8, Part 3. However, the effectiveness of these recommendations for a European profile is dubious, due to limited existing data from European research. An experimental program was performed in order to evaluate the proposed values of the geometrical characteristics of the RBS, and the results are presented in the present paper. Two full-scale subassemblages were tested under cyclic loading and the results are compared with those obtained from the theoretical model, using the finite element method. The analysis confirms the need for readjustment of the geometrical characteristics of the RBS in order to apply to European profiles.