Title: Stability of Tall Structures Restrained by Braces with Nonlinear Stiffness

Author(s): Luis F. Estenssoro1 and Albert J. Gouwens2

Publication: Symposium Paper

Volume: 97

Issue:

Appears on pages(s): 247-276

Keywords:

DOI: 10.14359/6902

Date: 2/1/1987

Abstract:
Stability of tall frames has been studied for elastic structures by a number of authors. A few references are: (5, 8, 9, 10) 3 . These methods have usually considered the elastic buckling of structures. Most structures have been found to buckle in a lurching mode at some story, usually near the bottom. Plastic design of multi-story frames considers the beams to yield, with a resultant loss of stiffness. When these hinges form, the structure may buckle in its entirety within a region several stories high. Stability of structures with nonlinear stiffness has been studied for structures of a limited size (2, 3, 7, 8). For large structures, it is usually hoped that adequate required strength is predicted by accounting for the geometric nonlinearity in the analysis and by including a load factor on the vertical load (11). This paper presents a theory which can be applied to structures which have sufficient drift to cause yielding of their bracing elements. Large structures with a large number of sequentially yielding elements can be readily solved using this method.