Two large bolted steel moment-resisting connections were studied by experiments. These connections were single-sided beam-column assemblies that are representative of exterior beam-column connections. They were composed of W36x150 Grade 50 beams and W14x257 Grade 50 columns. T-sections were cut from W40x264 sections of Grade 50 steel. The T-section webs were welded to the beams and prestressed by bolts to the beam flanges in the shop. Final beam-to-column assembly required no additional welding: the T-section flanges were bolted to the column and the column shear tab was bolted to the beam web. The specimens had two symmetrically located T-sections with different web geometry: Specimen 1 had rectangular-shaped webs, whereas Specimen 2 had U-shaped webs. During cyclic testing beam deformation was minimal due to active participation of the T-section flanges: a separation between T-section flanges and the column flanges was observed. This separation occurred due to bending plastic deformation in the T-section flanges. This phenomenon allowed dissipating energy and prevented severe buckling in the beam flanges and beam web.
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