The displacement ductility of steel moment resisting frames using welded flange plate connections

The displacement ductility of a moment resisting frame is a measure of the interstory drift that it is capable of achieving prior to a failure. The current design standard for moment resisting frames is the FEMA-350. It provides recommendations for the design of new steel moment resisting frames, and provides frame classifications based on interstory drift capacities. It is the goal of this investigation to evaluate the appropriateness of the ductility capacity prescribed by FEMA for the welded flange plate connection. Any results indicating a potential improvement to its design procedure will be addressed. Research will be done by creating and analyzing finite-element models of the connection for all practical beam and column sizes. Models will be based on a section taken between inflection points of a two-dimensional, multi-story and multi-bay portal frame. Initial design procedures will be performed in accordance with the recommendations of FEMA-350.