A load increment method for ductile reinforced concrete (RC) frame structures considering strain hardening effects

This study introduces a new load increment method for the ductile reinforced concrete (RC) frame structures by including strain-hardening effects. The proposed method is a nonlinear static analysis technique employed for RC frame structures subjected to constant gravity loads and monotonically increasing lateral loads. The material nonlinearity in RC structural elements is considered by adopting plastic hinge concept which is extended by including the strain hardening as well as interaction between bending moment and axial force. Geometric non-linearity, known as second order effect, is implemented to the method as well.