Hinge zone model of H-section steel members and hinge zone length

Abstract:

Characteristic properties of the hinge zone, defined as the concentration area of local buckling, were carefully investigated in this paper, based on which the calculation equation for the mean curvature of the hinge of Hsections failed by local buckling was proposed. Because the length of hinge zone is dependent on sectional configuration as well as axial force ratio, the calculation method for the hinge zone length considering the effects of sectional configuration and loading conditions was put forward by induction. Thus, the relationship of crosssectional momentcurvature eliminating the effect of member length of Hsections according to arbitrary cantilever beamcolumns was obtained. It is noted that such momentcurvature can be applied to nonlinear analysis of members with different loading conditions, lengths and boundary conditions, hence the nonlinear analysis efficiency of steel structures can be improved with satisfactory accuracy for engineering study.

Key words:beamcolumn; hinge zone model; mean curvature; hinge length; flexural deformation