Plastic hinges
The "Plastic hinges" module is used to insert plastic hinges into bars.
Considering plastic hinges in the design of a structure requires a non-linear analysis using the OpenSees analysis engine. Therefore, users must have permission to use this analysis engine in their license, together with the "Plastic hinges" module.
Using the new "Plastic hinges" option in the "Bar" menu, the relative position of the plastic hinges and their properties can be defined, as well as the rotational degrees of freedom in which they act.
The data required to define the behaviour of a plastic hinge at a given rotational degree of freedom are the plastic moment and the slope in the plastic section. The degrees of freedom are expressed in the local axes of the bar.
The properties of the hinge can be selected from those previously defined in the "Plastic hinge library" in the "Project" menu or entered directly in the plastic hinge definition panel.
The program can automatically analyse the value of the plastic moment for steel sections with a defined plastic modulus. In all other cases, this value can be defined manually.
In the forces view, the plastic hinges that have reached the plastic moment in the selected combination are highlighted by an increase in size and a colour change.
