MODELING PROCEDURES FOR PANEL ZONE DEFORMATIONS IN MOMENT RESISTING FRAMES

Abstract

Elastic and inelastic deformations in the panel zone of the beam-column joint region of moment resisting frames are responsible for a very significant portion of the lateral flexibility of such systems. This paper provides a brief theoretical basis for computing panel zone deformations, and compares results obtained from two simple mechanical models to each-other and to those obtained using detailed finite element analysis. It is shown that the simplest mechanical model, referred to as the Scissors model, produces results that are comparable to those obtained from the more complex mechanical model, and also correlates well with the results computed from the detailed finite element model.