Behaviour of welded top-seat angle connections exposed to fire

Beam-to-column connections have been found to significantly influence the structural behaviour at ambient and elevated temperatures. When steel-framed structures are exposed to fire, the load-bearing capacity is decreased and the behaviour of the joints is of particular concern. To account for the extensive applications of welded connections, eight experimental tests were carried out in this study on two different types of beam-to-column angle connections to investigate their fire resistance capacity. Failure characteristics and fracture modes of specimens were studied, and results are presented in the form of temperature–rotation curves. In addition, the influence of different parameters such as thickness of the angles, the value of the applied moment, and other geometrical and mechanical characteristics of the connections was investigated.