Implementation of total Lagrangian formulation for the elasto-plastic analysis of plane steel frames exposed to fire

Abstract

In this paper, the co-rotational total Lagrangian forms of finite element formulations are derived to perform elasto-plastic analysis for plane steel frames that either experience increasing external loading at ambient temperature or constant external loading at elevated temperatures. Geometric nonlinearities and thermal-expansion effects are considered. A series of programs were developed based on these formulations. To verify the accuracy and efficiency of the nonlinear finite element programs, numerical benchmark tests were performed, and the results from these tests are in a good agreement with the literature. The effects of the nonlinear terms of the stiffness matrices on the computational results were investigated in detail. It was also demonstrated that the influence of geometric nonlinearities on the incremental steps of the finite element analysis for plane steel frames in the presence of fire is limited.

Keywords

co-rotational / total Lagrangian / geometrical nonlinearity / fire / elasto-plastic

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