| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 308518 | Thin-Walled Structures | 2015 | 9 Pages |
•Force-based element was extended to advanced analysis of semi-rigid frames.•A connection element was developed to simulate semi-rigid connections.•A computer programme was developed and verified.•The proposed analysis was proved to be an efficient tool for engineering design.
This paper proposes an accurately and efficiently numerical procedure for distributed plasticity analysis of semi-rigid steel frames. Both geometric and material nonlinearities are included in the proposed analysis. Geometric nonlinearities due to the large and small P-Delta effects are respectively captured using the corotational formulation and curvature-based displacement procedure. Material nonlinearities due to residual stresses and inelastic behaviour of materials are taken into account using a fibre model. The nonlinear semi-rigid behaviour of beam-to-column connections is simulated using a zero-length connection element. The validity of the present analysis is verified by comparing the obtained predictions with existing solutions. A case study of a very large-scale steel frame indicates that the present analysis is very reliable and computationally efficient and thus would be a valuable tool for daily use in office engineering design.
