Advances in Engineering Plasticity and its Applications

W.B. Lee (Editor)

ELASTIC-PLASTIC L A R G E DEFLECTION ANALYSIS

C.Y. Yau*, G.W.M. H o " and Siu Lai CHAN*

* Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic,

ABSTRACT

The ultimate limit state philosophy has been widely accepted in various national codes for
the design of steel structures. To utilise this concept efficiently and effectively, computer
methods for nonlinear analysis allowing for geometrical change and material yielding are
being developed by the researchers in these countries in order to cater for the need of
analysing and designing steel structures complying with the code requirement. This paper
outlines the use of the computer program, GMNAF, developed for geometrical and material
static and dynamic nonlinear of steel frames in analysing the calibrating frames proposed
by European Convention for Constructional Steelwork (ECCS).

1. I N T R O D U C T I O N

Computer programs for nonlinear analysis of steel frames are currently being developed at
a number of research centres in various countries. These include the programs coded by the
researchers at Purdue University[l] and Cornell University[2] in the U.S.A., at University
of Sydney in Australia[3], at University of Warwick in Britain[4] among others. The objective
of these computer software can be summarised as the accurate determination of the ultimate
load of a framed structure accounting for the effects of geometrical and material
nonlinearities. Some of these programs can further handle the semi-rigid connections in the
frames in order to model the actual response of the structure more closely.

The computer program, GMNAF[5], was developed originally for researching into the
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nonlinear and buckling behaviour of skeletal structures[6,7,8]. It was later modified to allow
for out-of-core solver for large scale structures, skyline minimization scheme for reduction
of the size of the stiffness matrix and dynamic dimension for effective use of limited in-core
memory. Of special interest, the program is equipped with several numerical schemes for
efficient and robust nonlinear analysis such as the conventional load controlled Newton-
Raphson method, the arc-length method, the displacement control method, the constant
work load method and the minimum residual displacement method on which their
comparison was also made and reported [9]. Other techniques like the BFGS update and the
line search for efficient solution of nonlinear problems are also incorporated but were found
to be practically not very useful. The analysis program has been used to study the nonlinear
response of a transmission tower of 1732 members and 768 nodes without numerical
divergent problem[10].

Before a new technique is installed into the program GMNAF, it will be tested using normal
programming technique and against as many problems as possible in order to fully satisfy
the requirements of the programmer. A user-friendly utility program was also coded to help
the user to input data into the program[ll].

2. T H E O R E T I C A L B A C K G R O U N D

The element formulation was originally developed by Lui and Chen[12] for stability function
approach and was modified and adopted by H o and Chan[13] for geometric stiffness
approach of analysing steel framed structures with flexible connections. In the present
method, the concept of nonlinear spring is adopted to stimulate the inelastic behaviour of
a beam-column member. The stiffness of the connection is represented by the Moment-
curvature (M-0) curve shown in Figure 1.

The stiffness of the inelastic section is defined as the slope of the M-0 curve with degrading
stiffness under loading or initial stiffness during unloading. The mathematical expression for
the stiffness of the connection element is

dM
for M- dM > 0
d0
(1)
dM
S0 « for M- dM < 0
d0 0=0
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To account for the effect of initial residue stresses, which is trapped in hot-rolled
members during the cooling processes, a simplified approach from Reference 4 is used.
The stiffness of the spring is defined as,

L (2)
Y-l
-1
x-1

in which y is the ratio for the first yield to the plastic moments in the absence of axial
load and x is the current plasticity index.

3. E L E M E N T F O R M U L A T I O N

The addition of two connection elements at the two ends of a 2- dimensional beam-
column element shown in Figure 2 gives the following equilibrium equations,

s
i -Sj 0

-Sj s+k.. k..

a er te n
in which Sj,Sj are the spring stiffness at the two ends of the beam. 6i>A>
e e6j>i0j

rotations at the two ends of the spring elements, em^m^m^irij are the moments at the
two ends of the spring elements and k^k^k^kjj are the coefficients of the basic element
matrix, [k e], allowing for the bowing effect.

Via a static condensation process with the assumption that loads are only applied at the
external nodes, the internal degree-of-freedom of a beam-column element can be
eliminated and equation (2) can be expressed in a compact form as

(4)
K 6
ii. J.
766

in which e ^ M ^ M j are rotation and moment vectors at the two ends of the nodes.

Ignoring the higher order terms, the matrix for an elastic element can be stipulated by
assigning as infinitive values to the spring stiffness, S; and Sj, as

4a 2a (5)
2a 4a

where a = E I / L

In the case of a beam element with a plastic hinge at one end ( i . e . Sj = oo and Sj = 0 ),
the matrix becomes,

3a 0 (6)
K
0 0

The element matrix in global co-ordinate system can be obtained through a standard
transformation procedure as
T T
[k T] = [L][[T][kJ[T] +[N]J[L] (7)

in which [k T] is the tangent element matrix in global coordinates system, [N] is the
translational matrix allowing for change of stiffness due to rigid body motion and initial
stress. [T] is the transformation matrix for the 6 internal to the 12 nodal forces and
moments and [L] is the local to global axes transformation matrix

As the size of the stiffness matrix is the same as traditional beam-column element
(12x12), users could modify their existing nonlinear program with minimum effort.

4. N U M E R I C A L E X A M P L E

A six-storey two-bay frame with proportionally applied distributed gravity loads and
14
concentrated lateral loads as suggested by V o g e l is shown in figure 3. The frame is
assumed to have initial out-of-plumbness and possess the residual stress shown in figure
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4. Based on the residual stress pattern in figure 4, the initial yield occurs when the
plasticity index, x, approaches 0.5 (h/b < 1.2) for column sections and 0.7 for beam
section. The equilibrium paths by the present approach and by the plastic zone of Vogel
are shown in Figure 5. It can be seen in the figure that the structure behaviour can be
accurately predicted by the simpler proposed method based on the lump plasticity
concept.

5. CONCLUSION

A computer method allowing for geometrical change and gradual degradation of section
stiffness due to material yielding in a beam-column member is presented. The proposed
method is computational efficient, accurate and simple to program. The robustness and
efficiency of the software should make the nonlinear analysis of conventional steel frames
feasible in a personal computer and thus in a general design office.

6. A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T

The authors acknowledge the financial support by the Hong Kong Polytechnic in
conducting the research reported in this paper.
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REFERENCES
1 S. Toma, and W.F. Chen, Engineering Structures, 14, 1992, pp. 7-14.
2 R.D. Ziemian, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1989.
3 R.Q. Bridge, M.J. Clarke, G.J. Hancock, and N.S. Trahair, Transaction of the
Institution of Engineers, Australia, CE33 2, April, 1991, pp. 87-95.
4 D . Anderson, and K. Benterkia, J. Construct. Steel Research, 18, 1991, pp.227-
237.
5 GMNAF : Geometric and material nonlinear analysis of frames. User's reference
manual, 8807-1, 1988.
6 S.L. Chan and S. Kitipornchai, Engrg. Structures, 9, 1987, pp.243-254.
7 S.L. Chan, Engrg. Structures, H , 1989, pp.23-30.
8 S.L. Chan, Int. J. Space Structures, 6, 1991, pp.99-114.
9 S.L. Chan and G.W.M. Ho, 3rd Int. Conf. on Advances in Numerical Methods in
Engineering, Theory and Application, University College Swansea, U.K., 7-11,
January, 1990.
10 K.C. Wan, Geometrically nonlinear analysis of large scaled frames by micro­
computers, Dissertation submitted to the Department of Civil and Structural
Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic for the partial fulfilment for the Degree of
Bachelor of Engineering, 1991.
11 P.P.T. Chiu, User-friendly nonlinear analysis of 3 dimensional frames, Dissertation
submitted to the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, Hong Kong
Polytechnic for the partial fulfilment for the Degree of Bachelor of Engineering,
1992.
12 E.M. Lui and W.F. Chen, Int. J. Solids and Structures, 24, 1988, pp.893-913.
13 W.M.G. H o and S.L. Chan, to appear in J. Constrt. Steel Research, special issue
on Asian Research on Steel Structures.
14 U. Vogel, Stahlbau, 54, October 1985, pp.295-301.
 $/0y

Figure 1 . Idealized M-<£ curves for l-section with and without residua stresses

Figure 2 . A spring element

E=205,000 MPa
Fy=235 MPa
Frame Imperfection, JU=1/450 (each storey)

31.7kN/m
8 1PE240 8
0.5 S
20.44kN £ 49.1 kN/m
0.3 £7 0.3 o.3 IPE300 §

49.1 kN/m
IPE300 2
20.44kN § 49.1 kN/m
IPE300 ^
49.1 kN/m
IPE360 8
49.1 kN/m
Figure 4 . ECCS residual s t r e s s pattern IPE400 8
for hot-rolled l - s e c t i o n

/7777
I
/7777 /77Y7

I ^ 2xfl»12m

Figure 3 . L a y o u t of t h e V o g e l ' s
S i x - S t o r e y Frame

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26
lateral deflection at top storey (cm)

Figure 5. L o a d - d e f l e c t i o n r e s p o n s e of V o g e l ' s s i x - S t o r e y Frame