An assessment of beam-to-column endplate and baseplate joints including: The axial-moment interaction

Knowledge of the moment-rotation characteristic of connections is an essential prerequisite for use of the so called semi-continuous approach to steel and composite frame design. Although the axial force transferred from the beam is frequently low, so that its effect on the moment-rotation characteristic may often be neglect, certain circumstances do exist in which axial compression or tension forces will be sufficiently large that it is no longer reasonable to ignore their influence. Relatively few experimental results have been reported to investigate this effect. A method is presented herein which extends the range of application of available data so as to produce moment-rotation characteristics that implicitly make proper allowance for the presence of significant levels of either tension of compression in the beam. The method depends directly on the availability of a limited amount of data but then uses a corrective process to permit the full range to be covered. The applicably and validity of the proposed methodology is demonstrated through comparisons against several tests on both flush end-plate joints and base plate arrangements.