Second-order elastic analysis of frames using single imperfect element per member

Siu Lai Chan¹ and Zhi Hua Zhou²

¹Prof., Dept. of Civ. and Struct. Engrg., Hong Kong Polytechnic, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong

²Lect., Dept. of Civ. Engrg., Southeast Univ., Nanjing, China

Published: 01 June 1995

ABSTRACT:

In practical stability design and analysis of steel members and structures, one must allow for member imperfection. Various national design codes impose different values of initial imperfection for member-strength determination, such as 0.001 of the member length in the 1986 Load and Resistance Factor Design Specification for Structural Steel Buildings . This paper presents a new method of including the effects of initial imperfection in the element stiffness without needing to adopt a curved-element formulation, which is deficient for members under high axial load, or to divide a member into two or more straight elements in order to simulate member imperfection. A very considerable savings and convenience in data-manipulation effort and computer time can be achieved when using the proposed element.