Seismic design criteria for moment resisting steel frames

In this paper, the seismic performances of moment-resisting frames designed according to different criteria corresponding to OMR-Frames, SMR-Frames and GMR-Frames are examined by means of inelastic analyses. GMR-Frames are designed by means of a new procedure based on the direct application of the kinematic theorem of plastic collapse. The main result is represented by the validation of this design procedure, all GMR-Frames exhibiting a collapse mechanism of the global type. The comparative analyses of the values of the q-factor obtainable by means of these different design criteria is carried out in order to look insight into the possibility to provide design values of the q-factor depending on the design criteria to be developed.