Axial strain of beam element

in geometric nonlinear analysis

Jihong Hwang

MIDAS Information Technology Co., Ltd. [1]

 User’s question

It is a simple cantilever beam subjected to an axial load of 100,000 kN at the

stage 1, and a lateral load of 1,000 kN at the stage 2. I performed nonlinear
construction stage analysis to consider the effects of large deformation.

Stage 1 Stage 2 2
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 User’s question

Analysis results are as follows;

Stage 1) DZ = 0.079365 m
Stage 2) DZ = 0.078938 m, DX = 0.091213 m
My = 950.1kN-m

At stage 2, however, we expect this moment:

My =1,000*(10+0.078938)-100,000*0.091213
= 957.638 kN-m
Z

Why is the difference? X

Stage 1 Stage 2
Lateral load: +1,000 kN
Vertical load: +100,000 kN
Dz: 0.079365 m Dz: 0.078938 m
Dx: 0.091213 m
My: 950.1kN*m

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 MIDAS Answer

How to calculate the moment at the stage 2?

DX
In the nonlinear analysis of beam element,
the displacements are calculated based on DX’

DZ’
DZ
the large axial strain & large rotation, but the
member forces are determined under the H
assumption of the small axial strain-large Deformation
rotation. Therefore, the manual calculation due to axial
V
of member forces based on the deformed force from
stage 1
shape (Figure 1) can be different from the
program results. The member forces are
calculated from the deformed shape (Figure 2)
obtained by ignoring the deformation due to
the axial force.

The bending moment at the bottom of

cantilever can be obtained from the equation
below.
My = H x (L-DZ’) - V x DX’

Figure 1. Figure 2.
Deformed shape Deformed shape
at stage 2 after ignoring the
axial deformation
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 MIDAS Answer

How to verify the bending moment at the stage 2?

There is a function called ‘Initial Forces for Geometric Stiffness’ with
which we can just take into account the axial force to calculate
geometric stiffness ignoring the deformation due to the axial force in
the geometric nonlinear analysis.

Replace the axial load with the Initial Force and perform the geometric
nonlinear analysis. The bending moment now matches 950.1 kN-m.

H = 1000 kN

Initial Force = 100,000 kN

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 MIDAS Answer

The displacements obtained from the above analysis are shown below,
which corresponds to the deformed shape after ignoring the axial
deformation due to the vertical load. DX’

DZ’
Displacement of top node H

The manual calculation of bending moment using the above

displacements gives the same result as that of the user’s model.
My = H x (L-DZ’) - V x DX’
= 1000 * (10-0.000424) – 100000 * 0.090495 = 950.1 kN-M

Deformed shape
after ignoring the
axial deformation

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 MIDAS Answer

What will happen if we use plate elements instead of beam elements?

The assumption of the small axial strain & large rotation is not applied to plate elements.
The plate forces are directly obtained from the deformed shape.
DX
The values in the table are the displacements at the free end.

DZ
The manual calculation of the moment reaction at the bottom,
which is equal to the bending moment at the bottom of the
cantilever is as follows; Plate elements

My = H x (L+DZ) - V x DX
= 1000 * (10+0.077919) – 100000 * 0.090324 = 1045.5 kN-m

This manual calculation matches the program result shown in

Figure 3.

Figure 3
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 MIDAS Answer

Concluding remark

• The reason for the assumption of the small axial strain & large rotation for the beam element
is that in practice a column member will reach the buckling failure before it undergoes the
large axial strain.

• If necessary, it is recommended to use plate elements instead of beam elements.

• If we receive the development requests from users, we will improve this in the future release.

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 Thank you

MIDAS Information Technology Co., Ltd. [9]