Fiber hinge approach for nonlinear analysis of structural members accounting for local buckling under large deformation

Abstract

In order to improve the use of efficiency and economy in steel structures, we always try to make the steel plate with larger width–thickness ratio. Existing analysis methods including plastic hinge method and plastic zone method, but they have their own limitation. In this paper, we proposed an approach based on fiber hinge concept and effective width method which could take local buckling into consideration. Significant parameters of the proposed approach are discussed, including fiber hinge length, effective cross-section width and fiber failure criterion. We verify the accuracy and validity of the proposed approach according to comparison of analysis results and the test data from published literature. By comparing with the plastic zone method, the error of the ultimate bearing capacity is about 4%, at the same time, the calculation speed of this method is 64 times faster than that of the plastic zone method.