Moment-resisting joints in high-strength steel: areas for improvement in design standards

In Memoriam of Prof. Dr. Bernt Johansson. European standard EN 1993 does not permit the design of joints made from steel with a yield stress > 460 MPa using the principles of semi-continuous/partially restrained construction, and will remain forbidden in its current revision within the scope of the CEN/2014-02 programme for the evolution of the structural Eurocodes. The findings of a comprehensive research programme on the non-linear behaviour of moment-resisting joints with components made from high-strength steel grades (yield stresses of 690 and 960 MPa) carried out at Delft University of Technology are summarized in this paper and used to reappraise these restrictions.