Special frames:

This type of frame has stringent requirements in

terms of section dimensions, detailing, and design
forces. Before addressing these requirements, it is
important to understand the following definitions:
Seismic hook: is a bend of at least 135 with a
projecting length inside the core of a rectangular
concrete section equal to at least 6db or 75 mm.
The bend may be taken 90 in circular hoops.

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 Special frames:

Crosstie: is a straight tie that has a seismic hook on

one side and a 90º bend on the other. The bend
must have at least six times its diameter. The
crossties are intended to ease the installation of
the ties by engaging the seismic hook first and then
pushing the bend afterward.

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 Special frames:

• Hoops: are special ties for seismic sections that are classified as
continuous hoops and composed of (overlapping) hoops.
Continuous hoops consist of one continuous bar, whereas the
composed hoops consist of an open stirrup and a crosstie.
Continuous hoops provide better support than composed
hoops. However, composed hoops are easier to install. Both
types of hoops must be detailed to conform to seismic hook
requirements

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 Special frames:

Probable moment, Mpr : is the nominal moment using

stress in steel equal to at least 1.25fy and the strength
reduction factor = 1.0. The stress distribution is shown.
Mpr is given as a minimum and not an exact quantity.
This moment accounts for the overstrength effect. This
action is needed to keep brittle elements elastic.

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 Special frames:

• Special Beams: Special beams have special requirements

in terms of design shear, dimensions, main reinforcement
and lateral reinforcement as follows.
• Design shear, Ve: the design shear force including seismic
effect, Ve, shall be evaluated according to the maximum
probable shear that can develop in the section due to
probable moments. This shear force includes the effect of
gravity loads and the over-strength effect insofar as the
moment is the function of the ultimate strength of
reinforcement.

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 Special frames:
• Consequently, the required design shear strength may
be expressed as:

• The design shear above must be resisted by the

nominal shear strength of the member, Vn, which
consists of concrete contribution (Vc) and steel
contribution (Vs). However, the contribution of the
concrete shall be ignored under the following two
conditions when they occur simultaneously:

where VE is the shear force due to earthquake effect only.

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 Special frames:

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 Special frames:

Dimension limitations
The additional requirements for dimensions are:
1. The web width shall not be less than 0.3 times its height
but not less than 250 mm.
2. The transverse projection of the beam over the supporting
columns shall not exceed three fourths the dimensions of
the supporting column.
3. The clear span of the beam shall not be less than four times
its effective depth. This requirement is intended to
guarantee the flexure behavior of the beam without
significant shear deformations (plane section hypothesis).

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 Special frames:
Main reinforcement
The additional requirements for main reinforcement design are:
1. The positive moment at the face of the column must exceed
one half the negative moment strength provided at the face of
the supporting column
2. The minimum positive and negative moments at midspan must
exceed one fourth the maximum moment strength provided at
the face of the supporting column.
3. At least two bars at the top and bottom faces of the beam
must be continuous.
4. The splice location shall not be less than 2d from the face of
the support or from the critical section of any plastic hinge.
5. Maximum reinforcement ratio must not exceed 0.025

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 Special frames:
Lateral reinforcement
The additional requirements for lateral reinforcement are:
1. The potential plastic hinge region is assumed to extend a distance of 2h
from the face of the support. Therefore, over this distance (2h), the
maximum spacing of stirrups is given in terms of the effective depth of
the member (d), the diameter of main reinforcement (db) and 150 mm.
The first stirrup shall start at least 50 mm from the face of the support.

2. The spacing of stirrups in the middle of the beam shall not exceed d/2.

3. The spacing of stirrups over the splice length shall not exceed d/4 or
100 mm.

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 Special frames:

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 Special frames:
Special Beam-Columns: have special requirements in
terms of design forces, dimensions, main
reinforcement and lateral reinforcement as follows.
Design Forces:
Design Moment: to force the plastic hinges in the beams
to achieve a weak beam-strong column mechanism,
the flexural strength of the columns must exceed the
flexural strength of the beams. For this reason, ACI 318
requires that the summation of the design moments of
columns be 20 percent larger than the summation of
the design moments of the girders meeting at the
same joint.

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Dimension limitations
The width of one side of the section not be less than 0.4
times its other side, but not less than 300 mm as shown
next.

Main reinforcement:
1. The gross reinforcement ratio, g, is limited to a
maximum 0.06 (preferably 0.04) and a minimum 0.01.
2. The splice location shall be limited to the center half of
the beam column to keep the splice outside of the regions
of the plastic hinges. The spacing of the splice hoop shall
be the same as in the plastic hinge region

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Lateral reinforcement details
definitions:

1. The distance c/c of the outer hoop is designated as bc (for

example, bc1 in direction 1 and bc2 in direction 2). bc indicates
either bc1 or bc2 according to the direction under
consideration.
2. The distance c/c between crossties is designated as hx. hx is
given as the maximum value of hx1 and hx2, where hx1 and hx2
indicate the distance between crossties in directions 1 and 2,
respectively.
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3. hx shall not exceed 350 mm
4. All hooks shown shall be seismic hooks as defined earlier.
The 90º bend of consecutive crossties shall be on opposite
sides of the column.

Lateral reinforcement details

1. The potential plastic hinge region is assumed to be within a
distance ( lo) from the face of the support. The minimum
length of plastic hinge region ( lo) is given as a function of
the clear span of the beam column, the dimensions of the
section and 500 mm. Therefore, over this distance ( lo), the
maximum spacing of hoops is given in terms of the
diameter of main reinforcement (db), the sides of the
section and the limit to a quantity, so.

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2. The amount and spacing of hoops in the plastic hinge region
must extend through the joint. This extension is waived if
the joint is confined by members framing to the joint.

3. The spacing of hoops in the middle of the beam shall neither

exceed 6db nor 150 mm.

4. The spacing of hoops over the splice length shall conform to

the requirements of hoops in the plastic hinge region. The
splice reinforcement must also develop as a tension splice

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Concrete cover protection
• The maximum allowable concrete cover must be
100 mm. In other words, when concrete cover
exceeds 100 mm, additional hoops are needed
within the outer 100 mm cover spaced at 300 mm.

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 Joints

Special Joints
The beam-column hoops in the plastic hinge region must be extended
into the joint area in IMF. However, there are additional requirements
for joints in SMF in terms of design forces and detailing requirements.
Force requirements
Design forces of the joints must be based on the probable moment, Mpr,
which is based on factored yield stress, fy, , such that

fy, = 1.25fy

Consequently, the design forces will consist of direct shear and forces
from moments.

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• the design shear force at face x-x in Figure below:
Vu = V3-T1-C2
• This shearing force must be resisted by the nominal shear
capacity of the joint, which is given according to the
number of sides of the joints that are framing into
members.
•

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Additional requirements
The reinforcement bar sizes, db, that pass through the joint must
not exceed 5 percent of the adjacent column dimension

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Development of reinforcement
The development of reinforcement in special beam-columns is given as a
function of a basic hook development length, ldh, given as:

The development length of straight bars is given as a function of the basic

hook development length for top and bottom reinforcement. This
development length
is also a function of the confinement of
concrete. The development length, ld , of
straight bars for different conditions is
given by the following expressions

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Confined concrete:
Development length in confined concrete is defined
for top and bottom reinforcement. The top
reinforcement is defined as any reinforcement that
is placed over 300 mm of fresh concrete.
• Top bars:

• Bottom bars:

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