Abstract
When moment resisting steel frames (MRFs) are subjected to seismic load, high shears arise at joint panels. The effect of panel zone yielding resulting from these high shears may become significant for the seismic behaviour of MRFs. In this paper, the elastic plastic behaviour of joint panels in rectangular hollow section (RHS) column to H beam connections are investigated by conducting a series of loading tests varying corner radius of joint panel (Test I) and manufacturing process of RHS column (Test II). From these test results and finite element analysis, a designformula for predicting plastic strength of joint panels in hollow section column to beam connections was proposed.
