Abstract
In this paper, a method of elasto-plastic analysis of orthogonal space frames utilizing the slope-deflection method is presented. We now consider the equilibrium equations for the deformed state of members which compose a space frame and by taking the time derivative, we obtain the relation between the rate of end moments and the rate of deformations. By solving above simultaneous differential equations utilizing the finite difference method, the coefficients in the basic equation of slope-deflection method of each member are determined numerically and equilibrium equations of the entire framing system are set up at an arbitrary loading state. We repeat solving the equations adjusting the coefficients of the basic equation of each member by using the method of incremental-load analysis until the convergence of deformations after the load increment is attained. The work described herein presents exact method for analysing the elasto-plastic behavior of space frames and is applicable to orthogonal multi-story space frames, provided that no change in axial force of columns takes place during loading, and some assumptions made to simplify the analysis are acceptble.
