• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.585-596
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• 2009

In the construction of end-plate connections, the end-plate is welded to the end of the beam in a factory and fastened by bolts in the field. This connection is widely used in advanced countries such as European countries and the U.S. Its design and connection details are prescribed in Eurocode 3, AISC LRFD, and FEMA 350. In Korea, the standards for seismic design in KBC 2005 have been reinforced based on IBC 2000 in the U.S., and it is expected that the connection details in the U.S. will be adopted for the establishment of beam-to-column design standards. In the U.S. thick end-plates are used for the connections to prevent beam rupture. The use of the connections in Korea, however, may lead toover-design. In this experimental study, the design standards for the end-plate connections provided by FEMA-350 were analyzed and structural tests for six specimens were conducted with the variables being the shim plate and the connection shape, to provide the best specifications for connections with plastic deformation in the end-plate for use in Korea.