Available rotation capacity of wide-flange beams and beam-columns .1. Theoretical approaches

The first part of the paper deals with determining the available rotation capacity of wide-flange steel beams and beam-columns limited by local plastic buckling of flange and web. Using a collapse plastic mechanism composed of plastic zones and yield lines, a specialized computer program DUCTROT 96 is developed with the aim of determining the ultimate plastic rotation. The factors influencing the rotation capacity are included in the analysis. material properties, member dimensions, interaction between flange and web in-plane or out-of-plane, plastic buckling, cyclic lending, etc. In the second part, the theoretical results are compared with experimental and numerical tests. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.