School of the Built Environment

Structural Analysis Notes

Moment Distribution Frames with Sway

These notes are designed to complement the lecture material, not replace it. They should serve as a reminder of what is already in your mind and are not intended as a self-teaching aid. Moment distribution can be applied to rigidly-jointed frames as well as continuous beams. We will look here at single-bay portal frames, though there is no reason why you should not be able to extend your work to multi-bay frames. Frames with more than one storey are more complex, and you will need to refer to a textbook if you wish to look at those. Think back to your work on continuous beams and consider the problem below: 30kN A 2EI 8m B EI 4m 12m 8m C 2EI D

Figure 1: Continuous beam with varying EI value. Note that the side spans of the beam have a higher value of EI than the central span. This may seem odd for a continuous beam, but will become clear when we turn it into a frame. The FEMs and DFs are calculated as usual. Refer back to the notes on Moment Distribution if you need to. MBC = -26.7 kNm DFBA = DFCD = MCB = 53.3 kNm DFBC = DFCB =

The distribution is tabulated in figure 2:

A 0 3/4

B 1/4 -26.7 -6.7 8.4 -0.5 0.1 -25.4 1/4 53.3 -13.3 4.2 -1.0 43.2

C 3/4 -40.0 -3.2 -43.2 0 -20.0 -1.6 -21.6

12.5 0.2 12.7

25.0 0.4 25.4

Figure 2: Distribution and final moments at joints. If you are unsure of the distribution then write it our stage by stage so that you can see where each value has come from. I started at joint C. Now look at the portal frame in figure 3. It has dimensions which are, in some senses, identical to the beam in figure 1, except the two outer spans have been wrapped around to form legs. 30kN B EI 8m 2EI 4m 2EI D 12m C

Figure 3:Simple portal frame. As far as moment distribution is concerned, there is no difference between the frame and the beam. In both cases, joints B and C are rigid joints between members, the ends of which must rotate by the same amount when released during distribution. There are, however, important physical differences because in the frame, sideways movement of these joints has important effects, so a simple distribution is not sufficient. Look first at the initial simple distribution, laid out around the frame. This is numerically identical to the beam distribution.

-25.4 0.1 0.5 8.4 -6.7 -26.7 B 25.0 0.4 25.4 3/4 1/4

43.2 -1.0 4.2 -13.3 53.3 1/4 C 3/4 -40.0 -3.2 -43.2

12.5 0.2 12.7

0 A D

-20.0 -1.6 -21.6

Figure 4: Distribution laid out around the frame. Before proceeding, satisfy yourself that you understand the way in which the figures are laid out. If you prefer to tabulate your calculations, then write them out in a table. The moments at the end of the distribution in figure 4 look as if they are in equilibrium moments either side of each joint are equal and opposite. However, if we look at the moments acting on the legs of the frame and calculate the shear forces which must exist, then we see that the frame as a whole is not in equilibrium: 25.4 HAB (-)43.2 HCD Leg AB: i.e. 8m Leg CD: i.e. HAB 12.7 (-)21.6 HCD HAB 8 = 25.4 + 12.7 HAB = 4.8 kN HCD 8 = 43.2 + 21.6 HCD = 8.1 kN

(note: HAB and HCD are in opposite directions)

Figure 5: Shear forces on frame legs, calculated from end moments.

The shear force calculations show that the frame is not in horizontal equilibrium, since a force of 8.1 4.8 = 3.3 kN would have to be applied to the top of the frame to keep it in equilibrium:

3.3 kN prop force

4.8 kN Figure 6: Frame with prop force.

8.1 kN

The prop force, which is imaginary, is the force which would be required to prevent the top of the frame from moving sideways, in this case to the left. This movement would actually take place in a real frame loaded like this, since there are no restraints preventing it, other than the stiffness of the legs themselves. This sideways movement is known as sway and must be taken into account when analysing portal frames. To remove the prop force, we simply have to add an equal and opposite sway force: 3.3 kN sway force

Figure 7: Sway force. We need to calculate the effect of this prop force on the reactions at A and D and on the bending moments in the frame, so that we can add these in to the no sway distribution which we have already completed. However, it is different in nature to the forces we have looked at so far, as it is applied to a joint rather than to a member. We currently have no method to calculate FEMs for this force, so we have to look instead at the sway displacement which will take place.

 B MBA = MAB = 6EI / L2 MBA

MAB Figure 8:Sway displacement of legs. Refer back to your class notes or to a textbook if you would like the derivation of this relationship. Note that there is no value for the sway force in the equation, so we must assume a value for the FEMs and then factor the resulting moments accordingly. This proportion depends solely upon the properties (length, stiffness and type of support) of the legs. So in the case of our symmetrical frame, all four FEMs will be the same we will choose 20kNm as a starting point. The value (or its sign) does not matter, as the consequent factoring will take account of this. Note that the same DFs are used.

-6.6 0.6 -2.2 -5.0 B 20.0 -15.0 1.6 6.6 3/4 1/4

-6.7 -0.1 0.3 -4.4 -2.5 1/4 C 3/4 20.0 -13.1 -0.2 6.7

20.0 -7.5 0.8 13.3

0 A D

20.0 -6.5 13.5

Figure 8: Sway distribution.

Notice the small rounding errors it should be clear from inspection that the legs should be identical, so we will use 6.7 kNm at the top and 13.4 kNm at the bottom: 6.6 HS HS 8 = 13.4 + 6.6 8m i.e. HS = 2.5 Total prop force (2 legs) HS 13.4 Figure 9: Sway force calculation. We need to apply a sway force of 3.3 kN leftwards to the top of the frame, so we must factor this down: Sway factor = required sway force force from sway distribution = 3.3 / 5 = 0.66 = 2 2.5 = 5 kN (leftwards at the top)

The moments from the sway distribution are multiplied by the sway factor before adding them to the moments from the no-sway distribution:

25.4

43.2

4.4

4.4

29.8

38.8

+
12.7 No-sway 21.6 8.8 0.66 sway 8.8

=
21.5 12.8 Final moments

Figure 10: Combination of no-sway and sway moments. Take particular note of the direction of the moment arrows, and hence the sign of the moments.

All that remains is to check that the frame is now in horizontal equilibrium: Leg AB: Leg CD: (29.8 + 21.5) / 8 = 6.4 kN (rightwards at the base) (38.8 + 12.8) / 8 = 6.5 kN (leftwards at the base)

The results reveal a small rounding error which is actually only 0.04 kNm, so the result is acceptable. This basic method can be applied to any portal frames with or without sway. You should be able to see that the only frames which do not sway are those which are themselves symmetrical and also carry symmetrical loading. Sideways forces (e.g. wind loads) are dealt with in exactly the same way as above, except that the total horizontal reaction force will be equal and opposite to the applied horizontal force. Some additional examples of the way sway FEMs are derived may be helpful: B 2EI A 12m C Leg AB: 6 2EI / 82 3/16 8m Leg CD: 6 EI / 82 3/32 Ratio AB : CD 3/16 : 3/32 i.e. 32 : 16 Use 32 kNm for AB and 16 kNm for CD (or you could use 20 and 10 same ration of 2:1) C 2EI A EI D Leg AB: 6 2EI / 82 3/16 8m Leg CD: 3 EI / 82 3/64 (note pinned end) Ratio AB : CD 3/16 : 3/64 i.e. 64 : 16 or 4:1 Use, e.g., 40 and 10.

EI D

12m

B 2EI A

C EI

Leg AB: 6 2EI / 82 3/16 12m Leg CD: 6 EI / 122 1/24 Ratio AB : CD 3/16 : 1/24 i.e. 3/16 : 3/72

8m

D 12m Figure 11: Examples of sway FEMs.

i.e. 72:16 Use 72 for AB and 16 for CD