Application of the plastic node method to thermal elastic-plastic and dynamic problems

Abstract

In 1968, the author and his colleagues developed a new mechanism of the plastic hinge, based on the incremental theory of plasticity, and derived the elastic-plastic stiffness matrices for one-dimensional members. In 1979, expanding the basic idea of the plastic hinge, the authors developed a new method of plastic analysis of plates and solid bodies using the ordinary finite element method, and derived the elastic-plastic stiffness matrices. Later, they named the new method of plastic analysis ‘the plastic node method’. In this paper, the basic theory of the plastic node method has been further developed for analyses of thermal elastic-plastic and dynamic behaviors of structures, and stiffness equations thus derived. Using this new theory, several examples have been analyzed and the applicability of this method has been demonstrated.