The Response of the Columns of Special Moment Frames Under Axial and Lateral Loading Cycles

Abstract

<jats:p>In order to assess the boundaries of the simultaneous demands on the column members of Special Moment Frames (SMFs), a thorough investigation in the following research were performed on several different archetype frames. Beside the boundaries of the simultaneous seismic demands, the fluctuation of these demands was also analyzed after numerous non-linear dynamic analyses on sample SMFs. These analyses paved the way to establish a representative framework for loading the column members in order to represent the seismic demands expected to be developed on these members. The maximum story drift among all analyses did not exceed 0.06, while a peak axial force more than 30% of their nominal axial yield strength was not captured among all the columns of the sample frames. Chosen archetype columns were loaded under introduced loading framework, and their response compared with the responses of the same columns when the lateral loading is implemented in conjunction with a constant level of axial loading.</jats:p>