The most of existing numerical and experimental studies on seismic resistant steel beam-to-column joints were carried out on planar assemblies, thus disregarding the presence of transverse beams that typically resist gravity loads in multistorey buildings. In this article, the influence of the transverse beams and their shear connections on the ultimate response of partial strength beam-to-column joints is investigated under cyclic actions and column loss scenarios by means of finite element simulations. The results show that the presence of the transverse beams provides minor beneficial effects on the primary moment resisting joints under seismic actions. On the contrary, the presence of the transverse beams gives significant effects in the case of column loss scenario, where large plastic deformations develop following the activation of catenary effects in the connected members.
