Applied Element Method For Nonlinear Analysis

Abstract

To track complete collapse behaviour of the structure, large deformation need to be considered during analysis. Nonlinear analysis of the structure can be performed to simulate large deformation behaviour of the structures. Finite Element Method (FEM) can be used for performing nonlinear analysis. But problem with FEM is that it only analyzes structure up to initiation of cracks in the structure. To track the crack propagation Applied Element Method (AEM) had been developed which is based on rigid body and spring model.In Applied Element Method, structure is discretized in rigid elements and they are connected by the normal and shear springs. The objective of present study is to understand application of Applied Element Method for nonlinear analysis. The element configuration for two dimensional struc- ture is discussed. The derivation of the stiffness matrix of two dimensional elements is presented. The study includes procedure for nonlinear analysis using Applied Element Method. Incremental method is followed for nonlinear AEM analysis. The computer programme is developed for nonlinear analysis of two dimensional structures using AEM. The developed computer programme is used for nonlinear analysis of cantilever beam,simply supported beam and portal frame. The analysis is carried out consider- ing different size of elements, different number of springs between two elements and different load increments. Based on nonlinear analysis load v/s displacement results are plotted for all problems. Results of nonlinear AEM are compared with Finite element analysis.