3.

4 PLANE FRAME ELEMENTS

Even if a beam element in the previous section can be useful, it is often not enough to model
many practical applications. For example, each member of the portal frame in figure 3.22
needs to support not only transverse shear and bending moment but also axial load. That is, a
structural member can play the role of both uniaxial bar and beam at the same time. Therefore,
it would be necessary to combine the bar and beam elements for practical engineering
applications.

3.4.1 Plane Frame Element Formulation

A plane frame is a structure similar to a truss, except the members can carry a transverse shear
force and bending moment in addition to an axial force. Thus, a frame member combines the
action of a uniaxial bar and a beam. This is accomplished by connecting the members by a
rigid joint such as a gusset plate, which transmits the shear force and bending moment. Welding
the ends of the members will also be sufficient in some cases. The cross sections of members
connected to a joint (node) undergo the same rotation when the frame deforms. The nodes in a
plane frame, which is in the xy plane, have three DOFs, u, v, and θ, displacements in the x
and y directions, and rotation about the zaxis. Consequently, one can apply two forces and one
couple at each node corresponding to the three DOFs. An example of common frame is
depicted in figure 3.22.
Copyright © 2018. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. All rights reserved.
 Figure 3.22 Frame structure and finite elements
Consider the freebody diagram of a typical frame element shown in figure 3.23. It has two
Copyright © 2018. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

nodes and three DOFs at each node. Each element has a local coordinate system. The local or
element coordinate system is such that the axis is parallel to the element. The positive
direction is from the first node to the second node of the element. The axis is such that the
axis is in the same direction as the zaxis. In the local coordinate system, the displacements in
and directions are, respectively, ū and , and the rotation in the direction is . Each node
has these three DOFs. The forces acting on the element, in local coordinates, are
at node 1, and at node 2. Our goal is to derive a relation
between the six element forces and the six DOFs. It will be convenient to use the local
coordinate system to derive the force–displacement relation as the axial effects and bending
effects are uncoupled in the local coordinates.
 Figure 3.23 Local degrees of freedom of plane frame element
The element forces and nodal displacements are vectors, and they can be transformed to the
coordinate system as follows:
Copyright © 2018. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

or

(3.76)
where the transformation matrix [T] is a function of the direction cosines of the element. Note
that the size of the transformation matrix [T] in chapter 1 was 4 × 4, as a twodimensional
truss element has four DOFs. The transformation matrix in eq. (3.76) is basically the same, but
the size is increased to 6 × 6 because of additional couples. However, the couple is the same
as the couple c, as the local axis is parallel to the global zaxis. For the same reason, .
 Since the displacements are also vectors, a similar relation connects the DOFs in the local and
global coordinates:

or

(3.77)
In the local coordinate system, the axial deformation (uniaxial bar) and bending deformations
(beam) are assumed uncoupled. When the beam is bent significantly, the axial load can affect
the bending moment. Therefore, this assumption requires that bending deformation is
infinitesimally small, which is the basic assumption in linear beam theory. Under such
assumption, the axial forces and axial displacements are related by the uniaxial bar stiffness
matrix, as

(3.78)

On the other hand, the transverse force and couple are related to the transverse displacement
and rotation by the bending stiffness matrix in eq. (3.52), as

(3.79)
Copyright © 2018. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

In a sense, the plane frame element is a combination of twodimensional truss and beam
elements. Combining eqs. (3.78) and (3.79), we obtain a relation between the element DOFs
and forces in the local coordinate system:
 (3.80)

where

It is clear that the equations at the first and fourth rows are the same as the uniaxial bar relation
in eq. (3.78), whereas the remaining four equations are the beam relation. Equation (3.80) can
be written in symbolic notation as

(3.81)

where is the element stiffness matrix in the local coordinate system.

As in the case of twodimensional truss elements, the element matrix equation (3.81) cannot
be used for assembly because different elements have different local coordinate systems. Thus,
the element matrix equation needs to be transformed to the global coordinate system.
Substituting for from eqs. (3.76) and (3.77), we obtain

(3.82)

Multiplying both sides of the above equation by , we obtain

Copyright © 2018. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

(3.83)

It can be shown that for the transformation matrix . Hence, eq. (3.83) can be written
as

or

(3.84)
where is the element stiffness matrix of a plane frame element in the global
coordinate system. One can verify that [k] is symmetric and positive semidefinite.
 (3.86)

Note that [k(1)] is a 6 × 6 symmetric matrix where the corresponding DOFs are
. As discussed before, the boundary condition can be
applied in the element level. Since the first three DOFs, , and θ1, are fixed, they can
be removed in the element stiffness matrix. After removing the rows and columns
corresponding to node 1, the element stiffness matrix in the global coordinates can be
obtained as

(3.87)

Using a similar procedure, the element stiffness matrix [k(2)] of element 2 can also be
obtained as

(3.88)

Note that for element 2, fixed DOFs, , and θ3, are also removed. After assembly, the
global matrix equations take the following form:

(3.89)
Copyright © 2018. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Since boundary conditions are already applied, the global matrix in eq. (3.89) is positive
definite and can be solved for unknown as:

Once nodal DOFs are given, it is possible to plot the deformed shape of the frame element
using interpolation functions. We will plot the deflection shape of element 1. First we will
transform the nodal displacements to the local coordinate system using eq. (3.77). It is
obvious . Noting the DOFs at node 2 are transformed as:

(3.90)
 Figure 3.25 Deformed shape of the frame in figure 3.24. The displacements are magnified by a
factor of 200

Force and moment resultants: We will use eq. (3.81), , to obtain the force and
moment resultants. Consider element 1 first. We already know the element stiffness matrix
and the displacements for this element. Performing the matrix multiplication, we obtain the
forces as:

(3.92)

From the above result one can recognize the axial force P, shear force V, and moment resultants
M1 and M2 in element 1 as:

(3.93)
Copyright © 2018. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

The above forces are shown in the freebody diagram of element 1 in figure 3.26. Note the
orientation of the local coordinate system. Force resultants P and V are constant along the
length of the element. The bending moment varies linearly from M1 at node 1 to M2 at node 1.
The forces in element 2 were calculated using similar procedures to obtain:

(3.94)

Note that nodes 2 and 3 were the first and second nodes for element 2. The freebody diagram
 of element 2 is shown in figure 3.26 along with that of element 1.

Figure 3.26 Freebody diagrams of elements 1 and 2 of the frame in example 3.10
Support Reactions The reactions at node 1 are basically given by

(Nm units). Similarly reactions at node 3 are:

. But they are in respective local coordinate systems.

They have to be resolved into the global xy coordinates as shown in figure 3.27. Checking
Copyright © 2018. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

for global equilibrium is left to the student as an exercise in statics. Note there are roundoff
errors in the reactions shown.
 Figure 3.27 Support reactions for the frame in example 3.10

3.5 BUCKLING OF BEAMS

In engineering structures, buckling is instability that leads to a failure mode. It happens when
Copyright © 2018. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

the structure or elements within the structure are subjected to a compressive load or stress,
especially when the structure has slender members such as a beam. For example, an eccentric
compressive axial load may cause a small initial bending deformation to the beam. However,
the bending deformation increases the eccentricity of the load and thus further bends the beam.
This can possibly lead to a complete loss of the member’s loadcarrying capacity. Buckling
may occur even though the stresses that develop in the structure are well below the failure
strength of the material. Therefore, buckling is an important failure mode, and engineers should
be aware of it when designing structures.

3.5.1 Review of Column Buckling

Consider a cantilevered beam subjected to an end couple C and an axial force P (figure 3.28).
We are interested in the tip deflection of the beam. If we use the concept of linear
superposition for elastic structures (see section 1.3.3), then the axial force P should have no
effect on the flexural behavior due to the couple C, and the tip deflection should be equal to