The Estimation of Large Deflections of a Portal Frame Under Asymmetric Pulse Loading

Modifications of a simple elastic-plastic technique [1-4] are shown which allow estimation of local deformation in the loaded column of a portal frame as well as the side-sway deflections of the frame. A wholly elastic response stage provides input to a simplified rigid-plastic solution, in which velocity patterns first of local and then of modal (side-sway) type occur, and which furnishes estimates of final plastic deflections. Maximum (elastic plus plastic) deflections are estimated by adding displacements corresponding to the elastic strain field defined by the stresses of the closing rigid-plastic mode. The method is described for perfectly plastic and for strain-rate sensitive material, and comparisons are shown here with values computed³ for both types of material by a finite element program. Emphasis in this paper is put on the inclusion of elastic and vicoplastic effects.