Abstract
This project presents the design process for a special steel moment frame located at three sites that have different seismic demands. All the designs are code compliant and some of the code requirements are illustrated. Once the structural elements are selected, SAP2000 is used to model the moment frames and to run a pushover analysis. This is an accurate analysis that accounts for material and geometrical nonlinearities and provides a force-displacement curve that allows the designer to determine the collapse loads and the maximum displacement for each of the moment frames. In addition, the pushover analysis provides an insight into the weak links of the moment frames showing the progression of plastic hinge formation. At the end, results for the designs are compared and reserve strength and ductility capacities are calculated.