Abstract
Cyclic loading tests of steel beam to composite steel reinforced concrete column connections were carried out. The beams, the connections and the columns of the test specimens were designed to an equal allowable strength. There were three different amount of the steel section in composite cross section. The inelastic hysteretic behavior and the shares of the steel in sustaining the internal force were compared among the three specimens and the following conclusions were obtained. (1) The internal force smoothly transmitted from steel beam to composite elements, even for the specimen with the steel-strength ratio of the beam to the composite elements of 30%. (2) The deformation in the element forming a plastic hinge had significant influence on the inelastic behavior of the entire system. (3) Therefore, there was no effect of other elements and the decrease of the steel sectional area had no direct effect upon the inelastic behabior of the entire system. From these results, it was found that the inelastic hysteretic behavior was sufficiently stable if the strength of the steel section of composite elements was at least 50% of the strength of the steel beam.
