Frame analysis with panel zone deformation

Conventional analyses of frameworks are usually carried out without considering the effect of panel zone deformation on frame behavior. As a result, center-to-center distances rather than clear spans are used for the lengths of the members. As is evident from experimental studies, the effect of panel zone deformation has a pronounced influence on frame behavior. In particular, the strength and drift of the frame will be affected if panel zone deformation is taken into consideration in the analysis. In this paper, various deformation modes of the panel zone are identified. A simple model which can be used to represent all these modes is then presented. The validity of this model is established by comparison with experiments on joint subassemblages. Finally, a two-bar frame with different behavioral joint models is analyzed numerically to demonstrate the importance of using realistic models in frame analysis.