Structural Plasticity Computer System: STRUPL

Despite the major progress in the field, wide use of structural plasticity awaits the development of computer packages capable of handling a broad range of practical problems in a way similar to the use of the STRUDL system for elastic analysis. The paper presents a blueprint for such a package, called STRUPL, and details of an integrated subsystem for the analysis of inelastic structures, called STRUPL-ANALYSIS. The latter can be used for a variety of parameter combinations, i.e., inelasticity models, loading types, behavioral modes, and stress combinations. Load deformation characteristics at any loading level up to structural collapse can be predicted within the framework of a first-order theory. Basic problems are formulated as sets of linear equations or linear programming with restricted basis problems. The paper describes the theoretical bases, mathematical formulations of typical problems in plastic analysis, the computer program, and some numerical applications of the STRUPL-ANALYSIS package.