• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.351-361
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• 2001

The connections are classified as rigid, semi+rigid, or pinned. There are two classification systems, EC3 adn Bjorhovede et al., representatively. The EC3 boundary between rigid and semi-rigid connections is in on the whole restrictive in term of the stiffness as well as the moment capacity of connections. The boundary specified by Bjorhovede et al. may not be sufficient to assure the behavior of rigid frames in some cases. In this study, it is proposed the new classification system for steel connection that depends on the reduction factor(R) of critical buckling load for unbraced semi-rigid frame expressed by the stiffness ratio($\rho$) of beam to column and the stiffness ratio(k) of connection to beam. Finally, it is examined by experimental data that new classification criteria provides a practical boundary compared wit hteh existing classifications.