Update on seismic performance of steel frame connections

During the January 17, 1994, Northridge Earthquake, many steel frame buildings sustained cracking and other damage. The SAC Steel Project was funded by FEMA to determine possible causes of the damage, develop of repair and retrofit methods for pre-Northridge connections, and establish a suite of connections that could be used for seismic design of new steel frame buildings. To achieve these goals models that predict the strength, stiffness and ductility of connections that are to be used for seismic design are needed. Experimental and detailed analytical studies are in progress to develop the understanding needed to develop these engineering models. This paper provides an update to this work.