Geometric nonlinear analysis of plane frames with generically nonuniform shear-deformable members.

Abstract

This paper employs the Direct Stiffness Method (DSM) to carry out geometric nonlinear analysis of plane frames with nonuniform physical-geometric characteristics. At the element level, a flexibility system of equations based on the principle of virtual forces (PVF) is established to calculate the tangent stiffness matrix and the equivalent nodal loads. The formulation allows for the easy modeling of shear-deformable frame elements with generic rigidity variation along their axes. In addition, Green's theorem is considered to express all the necessary section properties in terms of boundary integrals. This considerably simplifies the modeling of complex cross sections of arbitrary shapes. A “boundary-element” mesh is then used to model the geometric description of the cross sections. At the structure level, to determine the nonlinear equilibrium trajectories for the frame, we apply a co-rotational updated Lagrangian formulation along with an incremental-iterative full Newton-Raphson process. Large displacements and internal member forces are accurately reconstituted. Frameworks having elements with geometrically complex cross-sections varying along their axes are analyzed to validate the strategy proposed.