7. Conclusions
This paper presents an efficient numerical analysis framework for the dynamic time-history elastic analysis of three-dimensional steel frames using one-element-per-member model. The curved arbitrarilylocated-hinge (ALH) beam-column element is employed for simulating structural members, which is especially developed for the second-order design of steel frames fulfilled to the requirements in modern design codes like Eurocode 3 [12] and AISC 2010 [30] and so on. For improving the numerical efficiency, the internal DOFs are condensed. The present research focuses on studying the elastic behaviors of the system, while geometric nonlinearly, e.g. P-Δ-δ effects, large global deflections and local member deformations, are considered in the analysis. Consistent element mass matrix utilizing the Hemite interpolation function is proposed, and the Rayleigh damping model is employed. To solve the step-by-step equation to the dynamic motions, a direct time-integration method by the Newmark's algorithm is chosen. In describing the kinematic motion, the incremental secant stiffness method is introduced for allowing arbitrarily large rotations. Finally, several verification examples are given to verify and validate the presented numerical framework for solving dynamic time-integration problems. This research integrates the high-performance element into a robust numerical framework, and therefore, saving in the computational expense is apparent to make the current method being practical for practice.
