Design guide for steel frames using advanced analysis program

The aim of this paper is to provide a design guide of the LRFD based advanced analysis method for practical frame design. To this end, the step-by-step analysis and design procedures for the practical advanced analysis method are presented. The proposed advanced analysis program and input data format are discussed. Case studies are drawn to show the detailed design procedures of the practical advanced analysis method. The case studies cover a two-bay frame and a four-story, five-bay frame. Member sizes determined by the advanced analysis procedures are compared with those determined by the LRFD procedure, and a good agreement is generally observed. The advanced methods achieve the LRFD design requirements without tedious separate member capacity checks, including K-factor calculation. The methods are practical and therefore recommended for general use. © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.