Plastic hinge analysis of composite frames under column loss scenario

Abstract

This paper presents a plastic hinge analysis approach for static and dynamic assessment of composite frames under column loss scenarios. The proposed plastic hinge analysis method can be implemented using spreadsheet programming and it is computational less expensive compared to numerical analysis. A step-by-step first-order elastic-plastic analysis by tracking the formation of plastic hinge in a composite floor is performed until a collapse mechanism is formed to establish the static load-displacement behaviour and collapse load of a composite floor subject to sudden column loss. Floor deflections corresponding to the formation of each plastic hinge are evaluated to predict the static load-deformation response of composite frame. The composite floor joint effects can be included in the plastic hinge analysis by calculating the joints’ axial resistance and moment resistance using the Eurocodes’ component method. A dynamic assessment approach is then used to predict the dynamic response of frame due to sudden column loss. The accuracy of the proposed method is verified by comparing the predicted results with those from the established test and numerical results available in the literature.