CEE 598 NAS/NAO Nonlinear Analysis of Steel Structures Fall 2017

Conventional design practice in steel uses the exterior frames to carry lateral loads, while
the rest of the framing carries the gravity loads only. Although the gravity frames have
limited lateral elastic stiffness, they can play a significant role when second order effects
are considered, because their elements are generally lighter than those in the lateral load
resisting system and they carry a significant amount of the gravity loads. Hence, they can
supply a significant geometric stiffness. One way to include the second order effects of the
gravity framing is through what is called a leaning or lean-on column. In this approach,
the area of all the columns in the gravity system is lumped in one column and the total
gravity load of the story is applied at each level to it. The horizontal displacements of the
nodes of the leaning column are slaved to the horizontal displacements of the lateral load
resisting system at each level, to simulate the effect of the slab or rigid diaphragm. A
schematic of this approach is shown in Fig. 1.

W (story gravity load)

P (lateral load)

Leaning column
Lateral load resisting system

Fig. 1. Model of an MRF structure including the gravity system

This model can be further simplified by considering that the frame only provides lateral
stiffness, as shown in Fig. 2.

W (story gravity load)

Kframe
P (lateral load)

Leaning column

Fig. 2. Simplified model of a one story MRF structure

Assignment #1 Page 1/2

CEE 598 NAS/NAO Nonlinear Analysis of Steel Structures Fall 2017

As a result of another engineers design the lateral load resisting system of a structure
subjected to wind and gravity loads is the one shown in Fig. 3.

2W

0.05W

W18x35

15 Gravity framing
W14x68 W14x68

30

Fig. 3. One-story MRF design

Obtain the lateral load displacement response of the structure from:
1. A linear elastic analysis (use hand calculation or any structural analysis software
available).
2. A 2nd order elastic analysis using the simplified model, solved using Euler
method. Use an appropriate load step size.
3. A 2nd order elastic analysis using the simplified model, solved using Newton-
Raphson method under load control.
4. A 2nd order elastic analysis using the complete model, solved using Mastan2.
5. A 2nd order inelastic analysis using the complete model, solved using Mastan2.
Consider ASTM A36 steel.
Consider that the loads are applied proportionally and that there are no global or local
instabilities.
Plot the load-displacement responses up to 10% drift in a single graph and comment on
the possible differences.

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