Traditionally, the steel portal frame design assumes that beam-to-column joints are rigid or pinned. Rigid joints, where no relative rotations occur between the connected members, transfer not only substantial bending moments, but also shear and axial forces. On the other extreme, pinned joints, are characterised by almost free rotation movement between the connected elements that prevents the transmission of bending moments. Despite these facts, it is largely recognised that the great majority of joints does not exhibit such idealised behaviour. In fact, many joints transfer some bending moments associated with rotations. These joints are called semi-rigid, and their design should be performed according to their real structural behaviour. However, some steel beam-to-column joints are often subjected to a combination of bending and axial forces. The level of axial forces in the joint may be significant, typical of pitched-roof portal frames, sway frames or frames with incomplete floors. Current standard for steel joints do not take into account the presence of axial forces (tension and/or compression) in the joints. A single empirical limitation of 5 percent of the beam s plastic axial capacity is the only enforced provision in Annex J of Eurocode 3. The objective of the present work is to describe some experimental and numerical results to extend the philosophy of the component method to deal with the combined action of bending and axial forces. To fulfil this objective a set of sixteen specimens were performed and a mechanical model was developed to be used in the evaluation of the joint properties: bending moment resistance, initial stiffness and rotation capacity.