Iterative global-local approach to consider the local effects in dynamic analysis of beams

This paper introduces a numerical procedure to incorporate elasto-plastic local deformation effects in the dynamic analysis of beams. The appealing feature is that simple beam type finite elements can be used for the global model which needs not to be altered by the localized elasto-plastic deformations. An overlapping local sophisticated 2D membrane model replaces the internal forces of the beam elements in the predefined region where the localized deformations take place. An iterative coupling technique is used to perform this replacement. Comparisons with full membrane analysis are provided in order to illustrate the accuracy and efficiency of the method developed herein. In this study, the membrane formulation is able to capture the elasto-plastic material behaviour based on the von Misses yield criterion and the associated flow rule for plane stress. The Newmark time integration method is adopted for the step-by-step dynamic analysis.