• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.175-186
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• 2018

The plastic hinge method and the plastic zone method are extensively adopted in displacement-based elements and force-based elements respectively for second-order inelastic analysis. The former enhances the computational efficiency with relatively less accurate results while the latter precisely predicts the structural behavior but generally requires more computer time. The displacement-based elements receive criticism mainly on plasticity dominated problems not only in accuracy but also in longer computer time to redistribute the forces due to formation of plastic hinges. The multi-element-per-member model relieves this problem to some extent but will induce a new problem in modeling of member initial imperfections required in design codes for direct analysis. On the contrary, a force-based element with several integration points is sufficient for material yielding. However, use of more integration points or elements associated with fiber section reduces computational efficiency. In this paper, a new force-based element equipped with stress-resultant plasticity model with minimal computational cost is proposed for second-order inelastic analysis. This element is able to take the member initial bowing into account such that one-element-per-member model is adequate and complied with the codified requirements of direct analysis. This innovative solution is new and practical for routine design. Finally, several examples demonstrate the validity and accuracy of the proposed method.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.579-596
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• 2016

This paper describes a method of the refined plastic hinge approach in the framework of the higher-order element formulation that can efficaciously evaluate the limit state capacity of a whole reinforced concrete structural system using least number of element(s), whereas the traditional design of a reinforced concrete structure (i.e. AS3600; Eurocode 2) is member-based approach. Hence, in regard to the material nonlinearities, the efficient and economical cross-section analysis is provided to evaluate the element section capacity of non-uniform and arbitrary concrete section subjected to the interaction effects, which is helpful to formulate the refined plastic hinge method. In regard to the geometric nonlinearities, this paper relies on the higher-order element formulation with element load effect. Eventually, the load redistribution can be considered and make full use of the strength reserved owing to the redundancy of an indeterminate structure. And it is particularly true for the performance-based design of a structure under the extreme loads, while the uncertainty of the extreme load is great that the true behaviour of a whole structural system is important for the economical design approach, which is great superiority over the conservative optimal strength of an individual and isolated member based on traditional design (i.e. AS3600; Eurocode 2).

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.4 no.6
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• pp.419-435
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• 2004

The safety level of a structural system designed per code specifications can not be inferred directly from the reliability of members due to the load redistribution and nonlinear inelastic structural behavior. Comparison of the system and member reliability, which is scarce in the literature, is likely to indicate any possible inconsistency of design codes in providing safe and economical designs. Such a comparative study is presented in this study for moment resisting two-dimensional steel frames designed per AISC LRFD Specifications. The member reliability is evaluated using the resistance of the beam-column element and the elastic load effects that indirectly accounts for the second-order effects. The system reliability analysis is evaluated based on the collapse load factor obtained from a second-order inelastic analysis. Comparison of the system and member reliability is presented for several steel frames. Results suggest that the failure probability of the system is about one order of magnitude lower than that of the most critically loaded structural member, and that the difference between the system and member reliability depends on the structural configuration, degree of redundancy, and dead to live load ratio. Results also suggest that the system reliability is less sensitive to initial imperfections of the structure than the member reliability. Therefore, the system aspect should be incorporated in future design codes in order to achieve more reliability consistent designs.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.623-633
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• 2018

A robust element is essential for successful design of steel frames with Direct analysis (DA) method. To this end, an innovative and efficient curved-quartic-function (CQF) beam-column element using the fourth-order polynomial shape function with end-springs in series is proposed for practical applications of DA. The member initial imperfection is explicitly integrated into the element formulation, and, therefore, the P-${\delta}$ effect can be directly captured in the analysis. The series of zero-length springs are placed at the element ends to model the effects of semi-rigid joints and material yielding. One-element-per-member model is adopted for design bringing considerable savings in computer expense. The incremental secant stiffness method allowing for large deflections is used to describe the kinematic motion. Finally, several problems are studied in this paper for examining and validating the accuracy of the present formulations. The proposed element is believed to make DA simpler to use than existing elements, which is essential for its successful and widespread adoption by engineers.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.763-785
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• 2008

In this study, a flexibility-based finite element method considering geometric and material nonlinearities is developed for analyzing steel-concrete frame structures. The stability functions obtained from the exact buckling solution of the beam-column subjected to end moments are used to accurately capture the second-order effects. The proposed method uses the force interpolation functions, including a moment magnification due to the axial force and lateral displacement. Thus, only one element per a physical member can account for the interaction between the bending moment and the axial force in a rational way. The proposed method applies the Newton method based on the load control and uses the secant stiffness method, which is computationally both efficient and stable. According to the evaluation result of this study, the proposed method consistently well predicts the nonlinear inelastic behavior of steel-concrete composite frames and gives good efficiency.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.207-222
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• 2010

Fire incident in buildings is common, so the fire safety design of the framed structure is imperative, especially for the unprotected or partly protected bare steel frames. However, software for structural fire analysis is not widely available. As a result, the performance-based structural fire design is urged on the basis of using user-friendly and conventional nonlinear computer analysis programs so that engineers do not need to acquire new structural analysis software for structural fire analysis and design. The tool is desired to have the capacity of simulating the different fire scenarios and associated detrimental effects efficiently, which includes second-order P-D and P-d effects and material yielding. Also the nonlinear behaviour of large-scale structure becomes complicated when under fire, and thus its simulation relies on an efficient and effective numerical analysis to cope with intricate nonlinear effects due to fire. To this end, the present fire study utilizes a second-order elastic/plastic analysis software NIDA to predict structural behaviour of bare steel framed structures at elevated temperatures. This fire study considers thermal expansion and material degradation due to heating. Degradation of material strength with increasing temperature is included by a set of temperature-stress-strain curves according to BS5950 Part 8 mainly, which implicitly allows for creep deformation. This finite element stiffness formulation of beam-column elements is derived from the fifth-order PEP element which facilitates the computer modeling by one member per element. The Newton-Raphson method is used in the nonlinear solution procedure in order to trace the nonlinear equilibrium path at specified elevated temperatures. Several numerical and experimental verifications of framed structures are presented and compared against solutions in literature. The proposed method permits engineers to adopt the performance-based structural fire analysis and design using typical second-order nonlinear structural analysis software.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.143-154
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• 2014

An improved method for evaluating effective buckling length of semi-rigid frame with inelastic behavior is newly proposed. Also, generalized exact tangential stiffness matrix with rotationally semi-rigid connections is adopted in previous studies. Therefore, the system buckling load of structure with inelastic behaviors can be exactly obtained by only one element per one straight member for inelastic problems. And the linearized elastic stiffness matrix and the geometric stiffness matrix of semi-rigid frame are utilized by taking into account 4th terms of taylor series from the exact tangent stiffness matrix. On the other hands, two inelastic analysis programs(M1, M2) are newly formulated. Where, M1 based on exact tangent stiffness matrix is programmed by iterative determinant search method and M2 is using linear algorithm with elastic and geometric matrices. Finally, in order to verify this present theory, various numerical examples are introduced and the effective buckling length of semi-rigid frames with inelastic materials are investigated.