Keywords: shear connections, perimeter moment resisting frames, time history analyses, rotation demand and capacity.

Shear connections are commonly employed in steel buildings to connect beams to columns because of their efficiency and reduced cost. They are usually assumed in the design scheme as real pins, but it has been observed that the rotation required for these connections under earthquakes is not negligible. Therefore, in the current paper the rotation demand of these connections has been quantified and compared with their capacity.

Several case studies for steel perimeter MRF structures have been investigated. First, the US SAC Project buildings, namely 3, 9 and 20 storey constructions designed in Los Angeles, have been examined. Later on, a building having the same geometry of the SAC Project 9 storey building but designed with Italian and European codes has been considered as a further case study. For all investigated buildings, three time history analyses related to three different earthquakes (Northridge (USA), Chi-Chi (Taiwan) and Nahanni (Canada)), have been conducted.

The analysis results, presented in terms of global (modal response) and local (relative rotation envelope diagrams) behaviour, have allowed the comparison between both rotation demand and capacity and Italian and American building seismic responses. In addition, the rotation demand has been quantified, it being assumed as 0.04 rad for buildings having less or equal than 9 storeys and 0.06 rad for buildings with more than 9 storeys.

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