1

CE 4201: Structural design III Lesson 1

Plastic analysis and design is commonly applied to design of steel structures. The phrase steel is confused by readers as structural steel (or) reinforcing steel (rebars) . However, it is important to note that the structural properties of structural steel and rebars are different. Based on the classical moment-rotation curves of three cases namely: i) structural steel; ii) under-reinforced concrete; and iii) over-reinforced concrete, the following points can be easily inferred. Moment-rotation capacities In case of mild steel, once plastic hinge is formed at a critical section, hinge starts rotating at constant moment M p , where M p is the plastic moment of resistance of the section. It is usually higher than the elastic moment of resistance, ME . An idealized moment-rotation curve of structural steel shows an infinite rotation capacity, once the moment reaches M p . Plastic hinge is a section (analytical) at which plastic curvatures are concentrated; this section remains highly stressed and continues to rotate under a constant moment M p , where Mp is called as plastic moment of resistant of the section. In case of under-reinforced sections, failure is initiated by yielding of steel and finally ends with crushing of concrete; this occurs when the maximum permissible strain in concrete exceeds 3.5%. please note that this upper limit value of concrete strain is uniformly followed by many international codes (see, for example, Euro Code). Thus, in UR sections, plasticity is introduced in RC structures only because of presence of steel. It may be even as low as 1% of the cross-sectional area, but still it is important. Also, the failure is not sudden and it possess many advantages over over-reinforced sections (they are beyond the scope of this lecture and not presented). However, it is very important to note that rotation capacity of plastic hinges form in UR sections do not posses infinite moment-rotation capacity as that of structural steel. Hence it is necessary to check the actual rotation of the plastic hinge with that of its permissible value to ensure safe behavior of the section, even at collapse. The catch here is that how to compute the actual rotation capacity of plastic hinges in RC sections? ii) Is there any code provision to compute permissible value of rotation capacity of plastic hinges? Let us answer these questions later. In case of over-reinforced sections, maximum strain in concrete reaches its ultimate limit first and then steel starts yielding. In this case, steel is not allowed to fail; it is concrete which fails after reaching its limit value of 3.5%. steel, may or may not yield . It is because of this primary reason, OR sections are stated as unsafe and uneconomical. Since concrete initiates the failure, it shall be sudden without any warning. Most importantly, the section is not utilized fully. There is an interesting question for the readers: If it is so, then w hat is the purpose of reinforcing steel in over-reinforced concrete sections? However, it has been experimentally proved that load carrying capacity of UR concrete sections are more than OR concrete sections; also rotation capacity of OR sections are very negligible compared to UR sections. Comparison of steel and RC plastic hinges Plastic hinges formed at critical sections in steel structures possess infinite rotation capacity whereas those formed in concrete sections have limited rotation capacity. Prof. A.L.L.Baker (V. Ramakrishnan and P.D.Arthur. 1969. Ultimate strength design for structural c oncrete. A.H.Wheeler and Co Pvt Limited, Madras) presented a descriptive computation on rotation capacity estimate of RC plastic hinges as early in 1950s. This limitation of RC plastic hinges remains as a serious unknown parameter in case of structural assessment of old RC buildings to estimate their current strength. Author has presented innovative methods of estimating the same in his new Book (Srinivasan Chandarsekaran, Luciano Nunzinate, Giorgio Serino and Federico Carannante. 2008. Seismic design aids for nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete structures. CRC Press, Taylor and Francis, Florida, USA, in press ).

This lecture notes is property of Prof. S. Chandrasekaran. All rights reserved.

Comparison of plastic hinge and structural hinge Plastic hinges are rusted hinges that rotate (requires a moment) under constant moment M p whereas structural hinges are greased, lubricated hinges that do not require any moment to rotate them; they rotate freely even at zero moment. Also, Plastic hinges are critical sections in building elements (they are normally formed at beam-column interactions or any other specific critical section under the given load combinations) and do not possess any particular physical shape and size to recognize visually, whereas structural hinges posses physical dimensions and are visually seen (see, for example, hinged joints in roof trusses) Questions for intuitive answering Do plastic analysis and design have any factor of safety? If yes, how and where they are applied in the analysis procedure? If no, then why such design methodology should exist in practice?

This lecture notes is property of Prof. S. Chandrasekaran. All rights reserved.