A new series of full-scale tests on steel frames with semi-rigid connections

The paper presents a test series consisting of six single-bay, two-storey frames, five of them tested under cyclic quasi-static loading, and one, under proportionally increasing loading. The connections between beams and columns are semi-rigid and partial strength, and have been designed to exhibit the performance of a plastic hinge with sufficiently large rotation capacity for a plastic mechanism to occur. The purpose of the tests was (i) to examine the behaviour of the frame as a whole, and (ii) to examine the behaviour of such connections when they form part of a frame. The paper puts an emphasis on the methods used during testing, including load histories, loading system and measuring devices. Of particular importance is a specifically designed device by which absolute rotations of cross-sections have been measured. The paper also presents some generic results concerning the frame behaviour under the loads applied.