Predesign of steel frames with semi-rigid joints
It is well known that real solutions of steel joints in framed structures are far away from the conservative assumption that joints behave like pure hinges and/or full rigid connections. Applying semi-rigid philosophy in the design requires consideration of joint characteristics (M- relationship) in the global analysis. The main parameters describing M- curve are the moment resistance Mj.Rd and initial stiffness Sj.ini. In EC3, part 1-8, there are procedures to determinate joint properties, but calculation of them is very troublesome and time consuming.