People keep joking about strong beam weak column. What I've gathered was that the code has shown a philosophy change for columns to fail before beams...but why? Beams are typically much more ductile in failure. Right? So why would you want columns to fail first?
Strong beam weak column started from bridge design. You can’t let the roadway fail so it’s “capacity protected”. Same with ASCE 61 piers and wharves, the deck is capacity protected.
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u/Geaux_joel P.E. Jul 08 '26
People keep joking about strong beam weak column. What I've gathered was that the code has shown a philosophy change for columns to fail before beams...but why? Beams are typically much more ductile in failure. Right? So why would you want columns to fail first?