Analysis of critical behavior of semi-rigid frames with or without load history in connections

Abstract Due to the inelastic behavior of beam-to-column connections, the critical behavior of semi-rigid frames is affected not only by the loading and unloading characteristics of connections at the critical points, but also by their load history up to these points. Thus, the stability analysis of frames of this type becomes very complicated, compared with pinned or rigid frames. Herein, we shall present a refined method which can accurately analyze the inelastic, critical behavior of semirigid frames, i.e. bifurcation and limit load instability. This method can also take into account the load history caused by cyclic loading. Using the proposed method, the rectangular semi-rigid frames wilh or without the load history due to cyclic wind load are precisely analyzed to examine their inelastic critical behavior.