ABSTRACT

The alternative assumption of rigid beam to column connections means that joints must possess a moment capacity at least equal to that of the adjacent members and should be sufficiently stiff for the initial angle between members to remain essentially unchanged under load. This then permits the frame to be analysed using conventional rigid frame techniques; nowadays this implies the use of standard software packages. Because of the interaction between components, the frame must be considered as a whole i.e. changing the properties of one member will influence the distribution of forces around the structure and thus potentially have an influence on the design of every other member. By combining member design requirements with the rigid frame analysis, recent American and Australian Codes have developed the so called “Advanced Analysis” approach to design which hands over all the structural calculations to a single computerised operation.