PLASTIC ANALYSIS AND DESIGN

(FUNDAMENTALS)
General Requirement of Plastic Design:

The following are the assumptions are made in plastic design to simplify
computations:

1) The material obeys Hooke, Law till the stress reaches fy.
2) The yield stress and modulus of elasticity have the same value in compression
and tension.
3) The material is homogeneous and isotropic in both the elastic and plastic states.
4) The material is assumed to be sufficiently ductile to permit large rotation of the
section to take place.
5) Plastic hinge rotation is large compare with the elastic deformations so that all
the rotations are concentrated at the plastic hinges. The segments between the
plastic hinges are rigid.
6) The magnitude of bending moment caused by the external loads will at the most
be equal to the plastic moment reached the capacity of the section.
7) The influence of normal and shear forces on plastic moments is not considered.
8) Plane sections remain plane even after bending and the effect of shear is
neglected.
9) The equilibrium of forces at the time of collapse is considered for the undeformed
state of the structure.
10) No instability occurs in any member of the structure upto collapse.

IS:800 stipulates that the following conditions should be satisfied in order to use the
plastic method of analysis:

1) The yield stress of steel used should not be greater than 450MPa.
2) The stress-strain characteristic of the steel used should obey the following
conditions, in order to ensure plastic moment redistribution.
a) The yield plateau (horizontal portion of the stress-strain curve) should
be greater than 6 times the yield strain.
b) The ratio of the ultimate tensile stress to the yield stress should be
more than 1.2.
c) The elongation on the standard gauge length should be more than
15%.
d) The steel should exhibit strain-hardening capacity.
3) The members shall be hot-rolled or fabricated using hot-rolled plates.
4) The cross section of the members not containing plastic hinges should be
‘compact’ and those of member containing plastic hinges should be ‘plastic’.
5) The cross-section should be symmetrical about its axis perpendicular to the axis
of the plastic hinge rotation.

These limitations are intended to ensure that there is a sufficiently long plastic
plateau to enabling a hinge to form and that the steel will not experience premature
strain hardening.

Advantages of Plastic Design

Plastic design methods offer the following advantages:

1) Realization of uniform and realistic F.O.S for all parts of the structures(in contrast
to elastic methods, where the safely factor varies)
2) Simplified analytical procedure and readily of obtaining design moments, since
there is no need to satisfy elastic strain compatibility conditions.
3) Saving of material over elastic methods resulting in lighter structures.
4) No effect due to temperature changes, settlement of supports, imperfection,
erection method, etc. (because their only effect is to change the amount of
rotation required). This is in contrast to the elastic method, where extra
calculation are required. However, calculation for instability and elastic deflection
required careful considerations in plastic method. The plastic design method is
very popular for design of some structure, e.g, beams and portal frames.
5) Gives some idea of collapse mode and strength of structure.
6) In the elastic method of design, the design process is repeated several times to
obtain an optimum solution, where the plastic method of design produces a
balanced section in a single attempt.

Dis-advantages of plastic design:

The disadvantages of plastic design method are the following:

1) Obtaining collapse load is difficult if the structure is reasonably complicated.

2) There is little saving in column design.
3) Difficult to design for fatigue.
4) Lateral bracing requirements are more than stringent than elastic design.
5) Calculations for elastic deformations require careful considerations.
6) When more than one loading condition occurs, it is necessary to perform
separate calculations, one for each loading condition; the section requiring the
largest plastic moment is selected. Unlike the elastic method of design, wherein
the moment produced by different loading condition can be added together, the
plastic moment obtained by different loading conditions cannot be combined(i.e,
 the plastic moment calculated for a given set of loads is valid only for that loading
condition). This is because the ‘principle of super position’ becomes invalid when
certain parts of the structure have yielded.

Plastic Analysis of Steel Structures: An elastic analysis is useful to study the

performance of the structure, especially with regards to serviceability under working
load. However, in steel structure when the load is increased, some of the sections in
the structure may develop yield stress. Any further increase in load causes the
structure to undergo elasto-plastic deformations and some of the section may
develop a fully plastic condition at which a sufficient number of plastic hinges are
formed transforming the structure into a mechanism. The mechanism may collapse
without noticeable additional loading. A study of the mechanism of failure and
knowledge of the load causing the mechanism is necessary to determine the load
factor. A structure is design so that its collapse load is equal to or higher than the
working multiplied by the load factor specified.

Further, a structure may reach its limit of usefulness through instability, fatigue or
excessive deflection. Alternatively, if none of these failure modes occurs, then the
structure will continue to carry load beyond the elastic limit until it reaches its
ultimate load through plastic deformation, and then collapse. Plastic analysis is
based on this mode of failure. The concept of ductility of structural steel forms the
basis for the plastic theory of bending. The rigorous analysis of a structure according
to the theory of elasticity demands that the stress satisfy two sets of conditions: (1)
the equilibrium conditions and (2) compatibility conditions. The first set of conditions
must be invariably satisfied in any material. However, the second condition ceases
to be valid as soon as plastic yielding occurs. The elastic method of design assumes
that a frame will become useless as soon as yield stress is reached. The working
stress is, therefore, kept much below the yield stress. The design so produced gives
a structure of unknown ultimate strength. The elastic methods of analysis are also
very cumbersome, specially for redundant frames. In plastic method of design, the
limit load of a system is a statically determinate quantity. The plastic method of
design gives an economical design. The margin of safety provided in this method is
not less than that provided in elastic method of design.

Furthermore, steel has unique physical property, ductility, because of which it is able
to absorb large deformations beyond the elastic limit without fracture. Due to this
property, steel posses a reserve of strength beyond its yield, as it evident from the
stress-strain curve of mild steel. Plastic design is an aspect of the limit design that
extends the structural usefulness upto the plastic strength or ultimate load carrying
capacity. The other terms referred to the plastic method of design are Limit Design,
Collapse Method of Design and Ultimate Design. In the plastic method, the design
criterion is the ultimate strength and hence the behaviour of members beyond the
yield stress in the inelastic or plastic range is considered. The working loads are
multiplied with specified factors known as load factors to obtain ultimate loads under
which a structure collapses. The plastic method of structural analysis, therefore, find
their principal application in the design of redundant rigid framed mild steel structure,
when deformation is relatively small compare to significant bending stress.

Furthermore, using the elastic design method (also termed as the working stress or
allowable stress method) to satisfy strength & stiffness requirements, the stresses
and deformations are computed at working loads using the elastic properties of
steel. This method of design limits the structural usefulness of steel upto an
allowable stress level, which is well below the elastic limit. Hence the structures
designed using this method may be heavier than those designed by the plastic
method, which uses the ultimate load rather than the yield stress as the design
criterion. The plastic design method, which utilizes the strength of steel beyond the
yield stress, is also called the ultimate load design or load factor design method. The
plastic method is often used in the analysis of statically indeterminate structures and
provides a rapid and rational approached for the analysis of such structures.

Ductility: Ductility may be described as the ability of a material to change its shape
without fracture. In other words, the ductility of a structure or its members is the
capacity to undergo large inelastic deformation without significant loss of strength or
stiffness.

Further, the plastic theory is based on the ductility of steel. Through ductility,
structural steel has capacity of absorbing large deformation beyond elastic limit
without the danger of failure.

Plastic Design: Plastic design is a special case of limit state design, where the limit
state is attained when the members reach plastic moment strength Mp and the
structure is transformed into a mechanism. Plastic moment strength is the moment
strength when all the fibres of the cross section of a member are at yield stress Fy
(one side of the neutral axis is in tension and the other side in compression.

The safety measure in the design is introduced by an appropriate choice of the load
factor, defined as the ratio of the ultimate load (design load) to the working load. The
ultimate strength design makes it possible for different types of loads to be assigned
different load factors under combined loading conditions, thereby overcoming the
related shortcoming of Working Stress Method.

It is to be noted that the satisfactory ‘strength’ performance at ultimate loads does

not guarantee satisfactory ‘serviceability’ performance at normal service loads.
Hence IS codes suggest that the deflections under working loads should be within
the prescribed limit of the codes. Plastic design does not permit using other limit
states such as instability, fatigue, or brittle fracture.

Plastic Hinge: A plastic hinge is a zone of yielding due to flexure in a structural

member. Although hinges do not actually form, it cal be seen that large changes of
slope occurs over small length of the member at position of maximum moments. A
strain hardening action usually occurs at these hinges so that large deflections are
accompanied by a slight increase in load.

A structure can support the computed ultimate load due to the formation of plastic
hinges at certain critical sections. The member remain elastic until the moment
reaches a value Mp, the maximum moment of resistance of a fully yielded cross
section or fully plastic moment of a section(Mp = fy Zp). Any additional moment will
cause the beam to rotate with little increase in stress. The rotation occurs at a
constant moment (Mp). The zone acts as if it was hinges except with a constant
restraining moment (Mp). The plastic hinge, therefore, can be defined as a yielded
zone due to flexure in a structure in which infinite rotation can take place at a
constant restraining moment (Mp) of the section. It is represented normally by a
black dot. The value of the moment at the adjacent sections of the yield zone for a
certain length is more than the yield moment. This length is known as hinge length,
depends upon the loading and geometry of the section. To simplify the analysis, this
small length is neglected and the plastic hinge is assumed to be formed at discrete
points of zero length. But, it cannot be neglected for the calculation of deflections
and the design of bracings as the length over which yielding extends is quite
important.

The plastic hinges are formed first at the sections subjected to the greatest
deformation( curvature). The possible places for plastic hinges in a structure with
prismatic members are points of concentrated loads, at the ends of member meeting
at a connection involving a change in geometry and at the point of zero shear in a
span under distributed load.

Hinge Length: Consider a simply supported rectangular beam subjected to a

gradually increasing concentrated load P, at the centre. A plastic hinge will be
formed at the centre.

Mp = PL/4; My = fy x Ze = fy x bd^2/6 = fy (1/6) x {4x(1/4)} bd^2 = (2/3) x fy xbd^2/4 =

(2/3) x fy x Zp = (2/3)Mp, i.e, Mp is 1.5 times more than My.

From the BM diagram, Mp / (L/2) = My / (L/2-x/2) => x=L/3. Therefore, the hinge
length of the plasticity zone is equal to 1/3rd of the span.
Similarly, the hinge length of the plasticity zone for a simple beam subjected to
uniformly distributed load is L/sqrt(3).

For a uniformly loaded fixed end beam, Bowels(1980) showed that the hinge length
at the ends (which is half the mid-span hinge length) is given by

xends = (L/2.83) x sqrt[1-(1/v)], Where v is the shape factor is equal to 1.12 for a I-
section. And xcentre = 2L / 8.645, i.e, 23% of the span length.

Plastic modulus of a section: May be defined as the combined statical moment of the
cross-sectional area above and below the equal-area axis. It is also referred to as
the resisting modulus of the completely plasticized section.

For a rectangular section:

Zpz = (A/2) x (y1-bar + y2-bar) = (bd/2) x (d/4+d/4) = bd^2/4

Zpy = (A/2) x (y1-bar + y2-bar) = (bd/2) x (b/4+b/4) = db^2/4

For a I-section with equal flanges:

Zpz = bf tf (h-tf) + tw(h/2-tf)^2

Zpy = {(bf)^2tf }/2 + (tw)^2/4(h-tf)

The above Zpz and Zpy for I-section have been developed assuming the flanges and
webs of rectangular plates, i.e, by ignoring the fillet.

Note: The symbol has usual meaning

Shape Factor (v): The ratio Mp / My is a property of a cross sectional shape and is
independent of the material properties. This ration is known as the shape factor v
and is given by v = Mp / My = = fy Zp / fy Ze.= Zp / Ze For wide-flange I-section in
flexure about the strong axis, the shape factor ranges from 1.09 to about 1.18 with
the average value being 1.14. One may conservatively take the plastic moment
strength Mp of I-section bent about their strong axis to be at least 15% greater than
the strength My. On the other hand, the shape factor for I-section bent about their
minor axis is about the same as for a rectangular section, i.e, about 1.5.

Shape factor of different cross sections:

Cross section Shape factor

Max. Min Average

Circular 16/3pi()=1.7 - -
Rectangular 1.5 - -

Thin walled circular tube 1.47 1.3 1.35

Thin walled rectangular hollow section 1.33 1.19 1.25

Thin walled circular tube 1.31 115 1.20

Triangular 1.34 - -

Diamond (equal diagonals) 12.0 - -

Wide flange I-section(major axis) 1.18 1.09 1.14

Wide flange I-section(minor axis) 1.67 - -

Equal angles 1.84 1.81 1.82

Unequal angles 1.83 1.75 1.82

Channels (major axis) 1.22 1.16 1.18

Channels (minor axis) 1.80 - -

For the theoretically ideal section in bending, i.e, two flange plate connected by a
web of insignificant thickness, the value of v will be 1. A value of shape factor nearly
equal to one shows that the section is efficient in resisting bending.

NOTE: When the material at the centre of the section is increased, the value of v
increases.

Load Factor : Load factor is defined as the ratio of the collapse load to the working
load(service load) and is represented by F, i.e, F = Pc / Pw

If a collection of beams having different end conditions (free or fixed) and the
working load W were first design elastically and then plastically, the ratio Pc / Pw will
not be identical. Only the beams that are simply supported will produce a constant
ratio of Pc / Pw and for these cases the values of Pc / Pw will be the lowest.

From a practical point of view, a minimum acceptable and constant load factor is
required, and that found for a simply supported beam may be regarded satisfactory.

For a simple beam the variation of the bending moment with the load is linear.
F = Pc / Pw = Mp / Mw = fyZp / fbcZe = (fy / fbc) / (Zp/Ze ) = (F.O.S) v.

Therefore, the load factor may also be defined as the product of the factor of safety
and load factor. Let u take the example of an I-section beam whose shape factor
v=1.2 and F.O.S = (fy / fbc) = (fy / 0.66fy) = 1.515.

Hence, Load factor, F = 1.515x1.12 = 1.7

In actual practice a load factor varying from 1.7 to 2.0 is assumed depending upon
the designer’s judgment. When the structures are subjected to wind the
corresponding load factor for plastic design is reduced by 25%. The prime function
of the load factor is to ensure that the structure will be safe under the collapse load.
Therefore, it may be regarded as a factor of safety based upon the collapse load. It
depends upon the nature of loading, the support conditions, and the geometrical
shape of the structural members. Uncertainty of the loads, imperfection in
workmanship and error in fabrication are some of the other factors which influence
the choice of the load factor.

Mechanism:

When a structure is subjected to a system of loads, it is stable and hence functional

until a sufficient number of plastic hinges have been formed to render the structure
unstable. As soon as the structure reaches an unstable condition, it is considered to
have been failed. The segments of the beams between the plastic hinges are able to
move without an increase of load. This condition in a member is called mechanism.
The concept of mechanism formation in a structure due to loading beyond the elastic
limit and of virtual work is used in the plastic analysis and design of steel structures.
If an indeterminate structure has the redundancy r, the insertion of r plastic hinges
makes it statically determinate. Any further hinge converts this statically determinate
structure into mechanism. Hence, for collapse, the numbers of plastic hinges
required are (r+1).

Types of Mechanism: Various possible mechanism are listed below:

a) Beam mechanism
b) Panel / sway mechanism
c) Joint mechanism
d) Gable mechanism
e) Composite (combined) mechanism

Number of Independent Mechanism: Let,

N = number of possible plastic hinges

r = number of redundancies

n = possible independent mechanism.

Then, n = N – r

After finding out the number of independent mechanism all the possible
combinations are made in such a way so as to make the external works maximum or
the internal work a minimum. This is done to obtain the lowest load.

Plastic Collapse

The plastic collapse of a structure depends upon its redundancies. When a sufficient
number of plastic hinges are formed to convert a structure into a mechanism, the
structure collapses. As such a stage the deflection increases very fast at constant
load. The collapse of a structure can be partial, complete or over-complete. These
terms can be explained on the basis of redundancy r, and the number of plastic
hinges developed N.

N < (r+1) – is called as partial collapse, part of the structure may fail.

N = (r+1) – is called as complete collapse, such a mechanism has only one degree
of freedom

N > (r+1) – is called as over-complete collapse, there are two or more mechanism
for which the corresponding value of the load is the same, this value being the actual
collapse load.

Conditions of plastic analysis

The conditions to be satisfied for the plastic methods of analysis are as follows:

1) Equilibrium condition: All the equilibrium conditions, i.e, summation of all the
forces and moment should be equal to zero.
2) Mechanism Condition: There must be sufficient number of plastic and
frictionless hinges for the beam / structure to form a mechanism. The ultimate
or collapse load is reached when a mechanism is formed. This is also called
continuity condition.
3) Plasticity or Yield conditions: The bending moment in any section of a
structure must be less than the plastic moment of the section- Mp <= M <= Mp.
This is also called plastic moment condition.
If all the three conditions are satisfied, a unique value, the lowest plastic limit load, is
obtained. However, if the equilibrium condition and any of the above two, i.e
mechanism or yield conditions is satisfied an approximate value above or below the
true plastic limit load is obtained.

Principle of virtual work

The principle of virtual work may be stated as follows: if a system of forces in

equilibrium is subjected to a virtual displacement, then the work done by the external
forces equals the work done by the internal forces, i.e., WE = WI . This is
accompanied by allowing rotations of the structure only at points of simple support
and at the points where plastic moments are expected to occur in producing the
mechanism.

Theorem of plastic collapse

The plastic analysis of a structure is govern by three theorem, which are as follows:

1) The static or lower bound theorem: states that a load (P<Pc)computed

on the basis of an assumed equilibrium moment diagram, in which the
moments(M) are nowhere greater than the plastic moment(M<Mp), is
less than, at the best equal to, the correct collapse load. Hence the
static method represents the lower limit to the true ultimate load and
has a maximum factor of safety. The static theorem satisfies the
equilibrium and yield conditions.
2) Kinematic or Upper bound theorem: states that a load computed on the
basis of an assumed mechanism will always be greater than or at the
best equal to , the true collapse load (P>Pc). Hence the kinematic
method represents an upper limit to the true ultimate load and has a
smaller factor of safety. The kinematic theorem satisfies the equilibrium
and continuity conditions.
3) Uniqueness theorem: The lower and upper bound theorems can be
combined to produce the uniqueness theorem, which states that the
load that satisfies both the theorems at the same time is the correct
collapse load. When both the theorems are satisfied in a given problem
then the solution is said to be the correct (unique) one.
 Methods of analysis

Using the principle of virtual work and the upper and lower bound theorems, a
structure can be analysed for its ultimate load by any of the following methods:

1) Static method: This consists of selecting the redundant forces, The free and
redundant bending moment diagram is drawn for the structure. A combined
bending moment diagram is drawn in such a way that a mechanism is
formed. The collapse load is found by working out the equilibrium equation. It
is checked that the bending moment is not more than the fully plastic moment
at any section.
2) Kinematic method: This consists of locating the possible places of plastic
hinges. The possible independent and combined mechanism are ascertained.
The collapse load is found by applying the principle of virtual work. A bending
moment diagram corresponding to the collapse mechanism is drawn and it is
checked that the bending moment is not more than the fully plastic moment at
any section.

For complicated frames, the static method of analysis is more difficult, and finding the
correct equilibrium equation becomes illusive. In these cases, the kinematic method is
more practical.

Plastic Design of Portal Frame:

Plastic design is used extensively for the design of single-storey portal frame
structures. The actual application of plastic design involves the two steps, namely,
adequate strength and avoidance of secondary failure. In addition, the effect of axial
load on vertical members should be considered.

The design of portals is a little complicated because there can be more than one
mechanism of failure, and the mechanism giving the least collapse load has to be
chosen. Single-bay portal frames with fixed bases have three redundancies and
require four hinges to produce a mechanism (I=R-r = 6-3 =3). Further more as the
number of redundancies increases, so does the number of possible modes of
collapse. The possible mechanism are classified into two groups: elementary and
combined mechanisms.

When the mechanism method is applied to structure with sloping members, the
determination of displacements in the direction of applied forces is required. This
difficulty may be resolve by the application of centre-of-rotation technique( also
called as method of instantaneous centres). When the gravity load case governs the
design, a good estimate of the required section (assuming uniform frame) may be
obtained by using the following formulae(Horne & Morris 1981):
 For pinned-base frames: Mp = γL(wL^2/8) [1 + k + (1+k)^0.5]

For fixed-base frames: Mp = γL(wL^2/8) [1 / {1 + k + (1+k)^0.5}]

Where, γL= 1.7 is the global load factor; k= h2/h1,h2=sloping ht. & h1=straight ht.

The design of portal frame using haunches, either at the eaves or at the apex, which
improve the strength and stiffness of the frame, provide the complete design of
haunched portal frame. Haunces shift the eaves plastic hinges to the column top
immediately below the lower end of the haunches for a fixed-based frame. Using
haunches, about 5 to 10 percent can be saved on rafter size, though it involves
additional fabrication cost.

Deflection: even If we use the plastic design, the member is actually in the elastic
range of behaviour. Hence deformations and deflections under load would still be in
the elastic range and the normal limitations of deflection must be applied for
structure designed using plastic theory.

Serviceability Limit States: Under the combinations of actions to be considered for

serviceability limit states, Eurocode 3[5] recommends that the deflections of portal
frames do not exceed the following limiting values:

a) Horizontal deflections at the top of columns

- for portal frames without gantry frames: h/150
- for other single storey building: h/300
b) Total vertical deflection in beams: L/200

Usually, for portal frames with a pitched roof, the deflection criteria for beams is not a
critical one.

Furthermore, in common with elastic structural analysis, plastic theorey assumes that
deflections have little effect on equilibrium equations. Thus additional bending moments
in a column, for example, due to axial load combined with frame sway, are usually
ignored. Plastic designs, no less than elastic design, must be checked to ensure that
the designed assumptions are obeyed.

Plastic Mehod Analysis:

Plastic method of analysis, as it allows the engineer to analyse the frame easily and
design it economically. By taking advantages of the ductility of steel, plastic design
produces lighter and more slender structural members than similar rigid frames
designed by elastic theory.
While attempting a plastic design, in addition to member strength (capacity) check,
the following checks must also be carried out:

a) Reduction in the plastic moment due to the effect of axial force and shear force.
b) Instability due to local buckling, lateral buckling, and column buckling.
c) Frame stability
d) Brittle fracture
e) Deflection at service loads
f) In addition, the connections should be designed properly such that they are
capable of developing and maintaining the required moment until the frame fails
by forming a mechanism.
 DESIGN OF STEEL STRUCTURES

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