Full-scale tests of steel frames with semi-rigid connections

An experimental investigation on full-scale frames aimed at determining the effect of flexibily in the beam–column connections and column bases is described. The paper presents an overview of the experimental set-up and briefly explains how the complexities arising from the three-dimensional nature of the tests were addressed. The results and the methods of a comparative study based on second order plastic analysis and non-linear shakedown analysis are given and discussed.