Monotonic and cyclic behaviour of the beam-to-column joints of the “future” mockup

The non-linear behavior of beam-to-column joints may significantly influence the seismic performance of steel moment resisting frames (MRFs). The current Eurocodes does not give detailed rules for seismic-resistant joints, but the next version of EN1998 will provide specific rules for pre-qualified joints whose background was matured within the RFCS research project “EQUALJOINTS”. Recently the research project “FUTURE” has been approved within the “H2020-INFRAIA-01-2016-2017 Research Infrastructure for Earth-quake Hazard”. In this project shake table tests will be carried out on a two-storey one bay MRF equipped with the beam-to-column joints prequalified according to EQUALJOINTS procedure, namely haunched joint, dog-bone and the extended stiffened joint. In this paper, the behaviour of joints under both monotonic and cyclic loads is investigated in order to verify the effectiveness of the design procedure. Parametric analyses were also carried out to investigate the influence of the finger shims on both non-linear behaviour of the joints. The results show that the design criteria are effective to guarantee the required performance of the joints and, despite the cumulative plastic deformation in the dissipative elements, the introduction of the finger shims are useful for the dismantling phase.