06-09-2010, 11:20 AM
You can provide beams with dimensions greater than that of the columns if you have shear walls which provide the necessary lateral strength.
If you don't have shear walls and you have beams with large dimensions, you can increase the reinforcement (and the dimensions) of the column until it's ok. But, you must take into consideration the fact that the building will not fail if a plastic hinge forms in a column, rather than in a beam (it is necessary to have plastic hinges in all the columns). Further more the plastic hinges must form in all the columns both at the top part and at the bottom part
So, in my opinion the best solution is to provide an adequate amount of reinforcement in the column and detail it accordingly, but keeping in mind the fact that a plastic hinge is very likely to form there (the rest of the columns must be detailed according to capacity design rules).
If you don't have shear walls and you have beams with large dimensions, you can increase the reinforcement (and the dimensions) of the column until it's ok. But, you must take into consideration the fact that the building will not fail if a plastic hinge forms in a column, rather than in a beam (it is necessary to have plastic hinges in all the columns). Further more the plastic hinges must form in all the columns both at the top part and at the bottom part
So, in my opinion the best solution is to provide an adequate amount of reinforcement in the column and detail it accordingly, but keeping in mind the fact that a plastic hinge is very likely to form there (the rest of the columns must be detailed according to capacity design rules).