Name: Molmesa, Nickson S.

Date: February 2, 2011

Course & Year: BSCE-V (CE Laws, Ethics and Specs) Rating:
Source: Plastic Analysis and Design of Steel Structures by M. Bill Wong, page 72-73

Plate No. 5
Plastic Hinge

According to the bilinear moment–curvature idealization, a section attaining its plastic moment
capacity undergoes plastic rotation without any further increase in bending moment. In other
words, the section behaves like a real hinge while possessing a fully plastic moment. This hinge
behavior, typically pertaining to a plastic hinge, enables a structure to be analyzed continuously by
inserting a plastic hinge at any section reaching its plastic moment. This is the basic concept for elastic-
plastic analysis to be performed on structures using the hinge-by-hinge concept. In tracing the formation
of the plastic hinges, the structure becomes increasingly flexible until its stiffness is reduced to such a
small value that imminent collapse occurs.
For an indeterminate structure under increasing loading, the magnitude of the increase in loads
can be calculated by considering the attainment of plastic moments in sections in an elastic-plastic
analysis. Take a fixed-end beam under a point load shown in Figure 2.18 as an example. The collapse
mechanism of the beam requires the formation of three plastic hinges at A, B, and C.

In carrying out the elastic-plastic analysis for this beam, or for any structure in general, the stiffness-
deteriorating nature of the structure can be visualized by plotting the variation of the load with
deflection at a point. For the fixed-end beam, the variation of the load P with the vertical deflection at B
is plotted and shown in Figure 2.19.

In plotting the load–deflection curve shown in Figure 2.19, it should be noted that
 each “black dot” represents a plastic hinge at a section in a fully plastic state; the
plastic hinge has attained a bending moment equal to its plastic moment;
 the elastic state of a structure corresponds to a load level below the first plastic hinge.
Analysis below this load level is called elastic analysis;
 the elastic–plastic state of a structure corresponds to any load level between the first and
the last plastic hinges. Analysis at this load level is called elastic-plastic analysis;
 the behavior of a structure between the formation of consecutive plastic hinges is elastic
and can be analyzed elastically;
 a fully plastic state of a structure corresponds to a load level at which the structure
collapses. At this load level, analysis stops;
 the slope of the curve indicates the relative stiffness of the structure; the stiffness decreases
as more sections become plastic hinges. At collapse, the stiffness of the structure is zero.