• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.16 no.6 s.73
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• pp.833-846
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• 2004

This study presents a non-prismatic beam element for modeling the elastic behavior of steel beams, which have the post-Northridge connections in steel moment frames. The elastic stiffness matrix, including the shear effects for non-prismatic members with reduced beam section (RBS) connection, is in closed form. A simplified approach is also suggested, which uses a prismatic beam element to model beams with the RBS connection. This method can estimate quiteexactly the maximum story drift ratios of frames with the RBS connection. The effects of reduced beam section connection on the elastic stiffness of steel moment frames were investigated. The selection of a proper model to account for deformations at the joint might have a more important role in estimating the maximum story drift ratios of frames with better accuracy than the RBS cutouts.