Plastic Design of Low-Rise Frames (Structural Mechanics)

The technique of plastic design has many advantages over the traditional elastic design technique. The methodology was developed in large part by M. R. Horne and his co-workers, and first came into wide-spread practical application in Britain. With the publication of this book, American designers and engineers will be given easy access to the latest developments in the theory and practice of plastic design.

The advantages of this technique for simple beam systems and single-story buildings are considerable: plastic design represents a more rational approach and the analysis can be accomplished quickly and directly, and it facilitates economies in the use of materials. Moreover, the methods can be readily extended to buildings that are several stories (four or five) high.

The first chapter reviews the fundamental methods of plastic analysis. Following chapters take up such topics as plastic moment distribution, modifying factors in plastic bending, frame stability and deflections (including the destabilizing effects of column axial loads on frames), the rigid-plastic behavior of a frame, and the elastic-plastic behavior of frames. A final chapter explains various practical considerations, such as joint design and the stiffening effects of cladding. All the chapters are linked so that the flow of the presentation is even throughout.

The book considers whole structures as well as the behavior of various elements. Numerous worked examples are presented, some of which are taken from actual designs.

M. R. Horne is Beyer Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Manchester and author of Plastic Theory of Structures. L. J. Morris is a senior lecturer on the Manchester civil engineering faculty. The book is the second in the MIT Press Series in Structural Mechanics, edited by H. Max Irvine.