NON-LINEAR DEFORMATION OF STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS

NON-LINEAR DEFORMATION OF STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS

This document verifies that the non-linear deformation of plates is treated correctly in
PLAXIS. An elastoplastic 'M − κ' material type is used and the deformation of a
cantilever under various loading conditions is studied.
Used version:
• PLAXIS 2D - Version 2018.0
Geometry: In PLAXIS structures cannot be used individually. A soil cluster is used to
create the geometry. Note that the properties of the material assigned to the soil do not
affect the results as the clusters will be deactivated in the calculation phases.
In PLAXIS 2D a plane strain model is used with 15-noded elements. An horizontal beam
with length equal to 1 m is simulated. A Point displacement with fixed translations and
rotation is used to clamp the beam at the left edge, while the right edge is free. A Point
moment is used to apply bending moment to the free end. Figure 1 illustrates the model
geometry.

Figure 1 Model geometry in PLAXIS 2D

Materials: The Elastoplastic M − κ material type is used, so the bending of the plate is
defined in terms of a bending moment-curvature diagram. Table 1 presents the selected
input values for the M − κ diagram and Figure 2 depicts the diagram.
Table 1 Input values for the M − κ diagram
M [kNm] κ [1/m]
0 0.0
25 1.786×10-4
35 3.572×10-4
39 5.358×10-4
40 7.144×10-4

The rest of the selected plate material properties are:

Plate: Isotropic EA = 14 × 106 kN/m w = 0 kN/m/m ν=0

Meshing: The Fine option is selected for the Element distribution, with a global
Coarseness factor equal to 1.
Calculations: In the Initial phase, zero initial stresses are generated by using the K0
procedure (γ = 0). In the following phases, the Calculation type is set to Plastic analysis
and the soil cluster is deactivated, while the plate, the point fixity and the point moment
are activated. A bending moment M , varying per calculation phase, is assigned to the
point. The horizontal and vertical force F is set to 0. In order to let the right end of the
beam move freely, the Deformations option is deactivated in the Model conditions.
To enhance results accuracy in every calculation phase (excluding the Initial phase), the

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VALIDATION & VERIFICATION

45

40

35

Bending moment (kNm)

30

25

20

15

10

0
0E+00 1E-04 2E-04 3E-04 4E-04 5E-04 6E-04 7E-04 8E-04
Curvature (1/m)

Figure 2 M − κ diagram

Max load fraction per step equals 0.05.

In total 15 calculation phases are introduced after the Initial phase, which correspond to
five 'load cases'. In the first two load cases, the plate is loaded to failure in both clockwise
and anticlockwise directions. In the subsequent load cases various loading conditions
are examined, in which the plate is loaded, unloaded and reloaded. Table 2 presents all
the considered load cases in respect with the corresponding calculation phases. Note
that some phases start from the Initial phase instead of the previous one and the options
Reset displacements to zero and Reset small strain are activated. This is relevant for
every phase at the beginning of a new load case, as presented in Table 2.
Table 2 Loading conditions
Load case Phase M [kNm/m] Comment
1 1 -41 Loading to failure (clockwise)
2 2 +41 Loading to failure (anticlockwise)
3 -25 Loading
4 0 Unloading
3 5 -35 Reloading
6 0 Unloading
7 -41 Reloading to failure
8 -25 Loading
9 +25 Reverse loading
4 10 -35 Reloading
11 +25 Reverse reloading
12 -41 Reloading to failure
13 -39.5 Loading
5 14 +39.5 Reverse loading
15 -39.5 Reloading

Output: The vertical displacement at the free end of the beam is plot against the
bending moment developed at the support on the left edge. Figure 3 through 6 present
the results of each load case. Note that, for the sake of comparison, load cases 1 and 2
are plotted together in Figure 3.
Verification: Analyzing the simple bending of a beam, the vertical deformation u at the

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 NON-LINEAR DEFORMATION OF STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS

PLAXIS 2D | load case 1 Analytical | load case 1

PLAXIS 2D | load case 2 Analytical | load case 2
50
40

M (kNm/m)
30
20
10
0
-0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4
-10
Vertical displacement (mm)
-20
-30
-40
-50

Figure 3 Bending moment versus vertical displacement (load cases 1 and 2)

45
40
35
30
M (kNm/m)

25
20
15 Analytical

10 PLAXIS 2D

5
0
0 -0.05 -0.1 -0.15 -0.2 -0.25 -0.3 -0.35 -0.4
Vertical displacement (mm)

Figure 4 Bending moment versus vertical displacement (load case 3)

50

40

30
M (kNm/m)

20 Analytical
PLAXIS 2D
10

0
0.15 0.1 0.05 0 -0.05 -0.1 -0.15 -0.2 -0.25 -0.3 -0.35 -0.4
-10 Vertical displacement (mm)

-20

-30

Figure 5 Bending moment versus vertical displacement (load case 4)

free end is calculated according to the small deformation theory:

∂2u
M = EIκ = EI (1)
∂x 2

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VALIDATION & VERIFICATION

50

M (kNm/m)
40

30

20

10

0
0.4 0.35 0.3 0.25 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.05 0 -0.05 -0.1 -0.15 -0.2 -0.25 -0.3 -0.35 -0.4
-10
Vertical displacement (mm)
-20

-30
Analytical
-40
PLAXIS 2D
-50

Figure 6 Bending moment versus vertical displacement (load case 5)

in which flexural rigidity EI varies with the applied bending moment M , according to the
M − κ diagram.
Based on Eq. (1) and Table 1, curvature κ is calculated as:
max
Mi − Mi−1
κi = κmax
i−1 + (2)
EIi
where the notation i refers to the corresponding branch of the M − κ diagram, thus
i = [1..4]. The elastic branch corresponds to i = 1. Curvature κmax
i−1 and bending moment
max
Mi−1 refer to the maximum values reached at the previous branch (i − 1) during loading
or unloading.
The corresponding vertical displacement u is obtained as:

L2
Z Z
u= κ dxdx = κ (3)
2
Figure 3 presents the results of the analytical solution against PLAXIS results, for both
load cases 1 and 2. It is concluded that they are in perfect agreement. As Table 1
indicates, failure occurs when M equals 40 kNm/m.
Figure 4 illustrates the results of the load case 3. After elastic loading to 25 kNm/m and
unloading to 0 kNm/m, plastic behaviour is observed during the reloading when M
exceeds 25 kNm/m (refer to Table 2). The second unloading remains elastic (EI1 ),
leading to residual (plastic) deformation equal to 0.054 mm. The final reloading curve
follows the M − κ diagram (Figure 2), but is shifted by the earlier developed plastic
deformation.
In Figure 5 the results of the load case 4 are plotted. The difference between the previous
load case is that instead of unloading to M = 0 kNm/m, load is reversed and M reaches
-25 kNm/m. The first reverse loading is elastic but the second leads to a plastic
component when M exceeds -15 kNm/m. As specified in Table 1, the elastic
loading/unloading branch applies for M less than 25 kNm/m. After reloading to 35
kNm/m, elastic reverse loading occurs till -15 kNm/m (35-25-25 = -15 kNm/m). The
resulting plastic deformation for M = 0 kNm/m equals the one in load case 3.

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 NON-LINEAR DEFORMATION OF STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS

In Figure 6 the results of the load case 5 are presented. In this case a hysteresis loop is
studied. The beam is loaded close to failure (39.5 kNm/m) and afterwards, equal bending
moment is applied in reverse direction. The unloading reveals accumulation of plastic
deformation equal to 0.169 mm. The inclination of the reverse loading and reloading
branches equals EIi , with i depending on the ratio M/κ.

PLAXIS 2018 | Validation & Verification 5