ABSTRACT
Theplasticanalysismethodsarewidelyusedinthedesignofsimplysupportedsteelbeams, continuoussteelbeams,steelportalframesandmultistoreyrectangularsteelframes.The goaloftheplasticanalysisistodeterminetheultimateloadsofasteelstructureatwhichthe structurewillfailduetothedevelopmentofexcessivede¥ections(Neal1977).Theplastic methodsofstructuralanalysisprovideeconomicaldesignsofsteelstructuresandhavethe advantageofsimplicitycomparedtotheelasticmethodsofstructuralanalysis.Theplastic analysisassumesthat(1)thebehaviourofthesteelstructurebeinganalysedisductile,(2)the de¥ectionsofthestructurearenotthecriticaldesigncriteria,and(3)thelocalandoverall buckling of the structure will not occur before the collapse load is reached.
