Computers & Structures Vol. 21. No. l/2, pp. 223-234. 1985 0045-7949185 $3.00 + .

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Printed in the U.S.A. 0 1985 Pergamon Press Ltd.

ELASTO-PLASTIC ANALYSIS OF THE CONCENTRATION

OF STRESSES IN WELDED GUSSET PLATES USING
ADINA

BRANISLAVPUJEVI~and DJORDJEVUKSANOVIC
Faculty of Civil Engineering, Belgrade, Yugoslavia

Abstract-The analysis of gusset plates in welded truss structures for elastic and elasto-plastic material
conditions using ADINA is presented. To analyze the concentration of stresses in linear analysis,
different models of gusset plates of various shapes are considered. The linear results are compared
with experimental data obtained from photoelastic measurements. Two-dimensional plane stress is-
oparametric elements are adopted and various finite element meshes are considered. Based on the
results obtained in the linear analysis only two models are used to perform nonlinear analyses. For
the nonlinear elasto-plastic analyses the various incremental procedures available in ADINA are used
to identify the most effective approach.

1. INTRODUCTION gusset plates using the ADINA program, and to

:ompare the results with the experimental data. The
Welded truss structural systems for the horizontal
second reason for performing the linear analysis
bracing of steel buildings have considerable accep-
was to gain insight into different finite element
tance in engineering practice. The main duty of the
models and evaluate which one would be the most
bracing system composed of members and gusset
adequate for a reliable nonlinear analysis.
plates is to provide a stiff structure for working
The main problem in achieving the continuity in
loads and to possess sufficient ductility at extreme
welded truss structures, is the connection of the
overloads such as may occur during a major earth-
members to the gusset plate and therefore, from the
quake. In order to obtain an accurate response pre-
point of security and reliability, the plate shape is
diction, it is very important, besides examining the
3ne of the most important factors (see Fig. 1). Ex-
complete subassemblage, to examine the behaviour
tensive experimental and analytical studies were
of gusset plates where the members are connected.
carried out[l, 2, 31 in examining this problem.
Stress concentrations for service loads and the dis-
The experimental data used for comparison for
sipation of input energy by yielding for increased
the linear analysis were obtained from the photoe-
loading are the dominant factors that characterise
lastic measurements made by polarized light trans-
the behaviour of gusset plates. There are three dif-
mitted through transparent thin gusset plate
ferent methods available for analysis: analytical,
experimental, and numerical. Analytical solutions
models. The thickness of the models was d = 6 mm
and the material used was polymeric with the pho-
can be obtained only for certain simplified cases of
toelastic constant (in tension) 2.06 N/mm*. Several
loadings, material properties, and boundary con-
gusset plates with different geometrical properties
ditions. For more complex problems, experimental
and various shape contours were examined in the
and numerical methods must be used.
Experiment. Fringe photographs of the stressed
In practical designs of gusset plates, usually only
gusset plate models under tension loads in the elas-
the linear material behaviour is considered. But if
tic domain are shown in Fig. 2.
they are stressed beyond the working loads, factors
From the experimental studies it was found out
established in linear analysis lose their significance,
and therefore a nonlinear analysis is necessary for
that certain geometrical relations are the most dom-
an accurate prediction of the behaviour.
The objective of this paper is to obtain more in-
sight into the behavior of gusset plates using a nu-
merical procedure based on the finite element meth-
ods in ADINA for linear and material nonlinear
static analysis.

2. LINEARANALYSIS
There were two main reasons for performing the
linear analyses. The first one was to numerically “Pi
explore the phenomena of stress concentrations in Fig. 1.

223
 ‘14 B. PWEVIC and Dj.
Fig. 2. Fringe photographs
inant factors in obtaining the magnitude of the
stress concentration gradients. The most important
one is the relation between the half width of the
gusset plate and the radius of the fillet given as a/p,
see Fig. 3. Also, it was found that the angle 4 of
the lateral edge of the gusset plate toward the axis
of the truss member; the relation between the height
of the truss member and the radius of the fillet b/p.
the relation between the height of the gusset plate
and the width c/2a: and their mutual relations are
very important factors in determining the stress fac-
tor concentrations.
Fig. 3.
VLJKSANOVI~’
of gusset plate models
For the numerical analysis using ADINA, the
gusset plates exert only a uniform tension to the
members. The load for the linear case was 9.3
N/mm’.
From the fringe photographs the existence of
two local disturbances of stress can be noticed. To
examine the concentration of stresses around the
point A. Fig. 1, several finite element models were
examined for the gusset plate model shown in Fig.
4. Considering the problem of mesh selection in this
region, we tried to obtain the best possible model.
First, for the analysis we have adopted 2-D plane
,-
I Za=ZlOO mm _,
Fig. 4.
 Elasto-plastic analysis of stresses in welded gusset plates
a=1050 ran
b=900 rm
c=700 ml
o=lOO ml
(b)
Fig. 5.(a); (b); (cl.
stress, eight-node isoparametric elements which are
usually very effective. Second, in selecting the ele-
ment sizes and the number of degrees of freedom
in the first approximation (see Fig. 5(a)) the exper-
imental data were considered. The results obtained
in the first linear run, showed that the stresses in
the dominant region, where the local disturbances
occur, have discontinuities between the adopted
elements, whereas in the homogeneous stress field
the discontinuities were negligible. Therefore the
mesh had to be refined in order to obtain a smooth
stress field (Fig. 5(b)).
It must be noticed, that the magnitude of stress
discontinuities between the elements was the only
measure for indicating the most appropriate finite
element model. At the same time we wanted to ex-
plore, by using the eight-node isoparametric ele-
ment, how the.distortion of the adopted elements
in the region of high stress concentration affects the
solution. Our experience obtained from the meshes
shown in Figs. S(b,c) is that it does not have a sig-
nificant influence on the stress concentration fac-
tor. For the mesh in Fig. 5(b) the stress concentra-
tion factor is 1.81 and for the mesh in Fig. 5(c) it is
1.88.
Since the analysed refined meshes were also
coarse regarding the stress distribution between the
elements, the mesh in Fig. 6(a) was finally found to
be the most appropriate one, and it was used for
225
(a)
(cl
further nonlinear analysis. Our opinion is that per-
haps more sophisticated procedures based on op-
timization of meshes, taking into account the po-
tential energy of the adopted model, might be
employed in selecting the optimal mesh for linear
and nonlinear analysis.
To check the dependence of the stress concen-
tration factor on the contour around point A and
certain geometrical parameters mentioned above,
several finite element models shown in Fig. 7 were
analysed. Two kinds of round contours were ex-
amined: circular, with the radius of 100 mm, and
elliptical, with the semiaxes 100/200 mm. In mod-
eling the plates, symmetry conditions were taken
into account.
The results obtained using ADINA were com-
pared with the experimental data in Table 1. As can
be seen, there is good agreement between the nu-
merical and experimental results. As expected, the
stress concentration factor is much greater for the
circular contour K = 1.92 than for the elliptical K
= 1.42 and this fact must be considered in designing
the gusset plates.
Figure 8 shows the stress concentration around
the circular and elliptical transition contour.
The stress distribution through cross-section a-
u for the models in Fig. 6(a,b) is shown in Fig. 9.
Good agreement with the experimental solution can
be observed. Figure 10 shows principal stresses in
 B. PUIEVICand Dj. VUKSANOVIC

a=1050 mm
b=900 mm
c=700 mm

(a) ( b)
Fig. 6.(a.b) Mesh for a plate with circular and elliptical transition contour.

a=1375 mm
/ -
b=900 mm k
~=I100 mm -
c

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- ~ -

b=900 mm b=900 mm
~=I100 mm
41=60'
p=lOO mm

Fig. 7. Various finite element models with different geometrical properties

 Elasto-plastic analysis of stresses in welded gusset plates 227

Table 1. Experimental and numerical data for stress concentration factor for various gusset plate
models.

circular elliptical circular circular

contour contour contour contour
a=900 a=900 a=60° ci=45O

Ratio .K =10.5 .G =2.63 10.5 10.5

Experimental
stress concen. 2.00 0) 1.33 2.06 2.11

factor Ke 2.13 (2) 1.53 2.04 2.07

Numerical stress'
concen. factor
K, obtained 1.92 1.42 1.90 1.97

using ADINA

Fig. 8. Stress concentration around the circular and elliptical transition contour.

the finite element models; the element stresses are
output at the integration points by ADINA.
3.NONLINEARANALYSIS
In the linear analysis we have presented the nu-
merical results for the gusset plates made of steel
and compared them with the results obtained using
photoelasticity on the models made of a polymeric
material. As can be seen, the results agree very
well, since the following conditions were satisfied:
The geometry is similar and both materials obey the
same material rule. We also made an attempt to
study the nonlinear behaviour of the existing gusset
plate models using the method of photoplasticity.
Since for the proper simulation it was hard to satisfy
two additional conditions besides those mentioned
above-that the materials must obey the same yield
criterion and that the dimensionless stress-strain
expression for both materials must be identical-
in this paper we are presenting only the numerical
results obtained using ADINA.
Based on the results obtained in the linear anal-
ysis only two models of gusset plates, Fig. 6(a,b)
with the circular and elliptical transition contours,
respectively, were used to perform the material
nonlinear analysis. The material was assumed to
obey an elasto-plastic isotropic hardening material
law, using the von Mises yield condition for inlin-
itesimally small displacements and strains.
In the ADINA nonlinear analysis, stresses and
strains are computed at the Gauss integration points
within the elements, both for the stiffness matrix
and the stress output. One of our intentions was to
show how the order of Gauss integration affects the
solution. Adopting 3 x 3 and 4 x 4 Gauss inte-
gration for the models, and using the incremental
solution with BFGS equilibrium iterations we con-
cluded that there is no significant difference except
in the solution time.
Our next point of interest was the performance
of various iterative methods available in ADINA.
For that purpose we considered the gusset plate
with a circular transition contour, Fig. 6(a). The
plate was modeled using 101 eight-node isopara-
metric plane stress elements, and it was subjected
to a uniform tension at the two opposite sides, in-
creasing in a large load step from 140 N/mm2 to 220
N/mm’. The displacement tolerance DTOL =
0.0001 and force convergence tolerance RTOL =
 228 B. PUJEVM?and Dj. VUKSANOVIC

TIYE 1 .OOO
0 EXPERIMENT
@ CIRCULAR
?k ELLIPTICAL

CROSS SECTION a-a (mm)

Fig. 9. Stress distribution through cross-section u-a for models in Fig. 6(a,b).

..I.. -,. ._ __

-I
_,..... .,.. 1

I.
I *

Fig. IO. Principal stresses.

0.01 were adopted. using the modified Newton-
Raphson method 24 iterations were required for
convergence, 11 iterations for modified Newton-
Raphson method with Aitken acceleration, and
only 5 iterations for the BFGS method. Although
the number of iterations was different, the solution
time cost for all three cases was almost equivalent,
800 s of CPU time.
To check the performance and the accuracy of
the incremental solution without equilibrium iter-
ations, the same model was considered. Eleven so-
lution steps from 140 N/mm* to 240 N/mm* were
employed in a first run to calculate the response.
Stiffness reformation was assumed at each step of
solution. To check the accuracy of the response,
the second run was performed with the load step
two times smaller than in the first run. Figure 11
shows the displacement response of point C for in-
creasing loads for both cases.
Figure 12 shows the strain at the point of first
yield using the incremental solution with the load
step of 10 N/mm* and 5 N/mm*.
Finally we examined the solution obtained using
incremental method with equilibrium iterations
within each load step for the same model. Since this
is usually the most accurate method, we wanted to
 Elasto-plastic analysis
of stresses
inwelded gusset plates 229

compare those results with the ones obtained in-
crementaly without equilibrium iterations, as well
as the CPU time for both methods. Twenty-one so-
lution steps were employed, with the stiffness ref-
ormation at each step and the equilibrium iterations
using modified Newton-Raphson and BFGS
method. The loads were incremented from 140
N/mm* to 240 N/mm’; the step was 10 N/mm* until
220 N/mm*, and then 2 N/mm* until 240 N/mm*.
The iteration convergence tolerances were the de-
fault values programmed in ADINA. The yielding
started at the load close to 150 N/mm* and diver-
gence was encountered between 238 N/mm’ and 240
N/mm’. The required computer CPU time, obtained
using a DEC20-DIGITAL computer was 7650 s for
BFGS method and 7250 s for modified Newton-
Raphson method.
At the same time it was interesting to explore
how the shape of the transition zone affects the non-
linear solution. The model with the elliptical tran-
sition contour was examined using the incremental
method with BFGS equilibrium iterations. The
yielding started between 180 N/mm* and 190
N/mm*.

:: CIRCULAR TRANSITION

o.co 0.50 i .OO i .50 2. oc 2.50

DISPLACE'MENT Y [mm)

c,
0

O- CIRCULAR TRANSITION

0
I.1
C_-
30
.-

DISFLACUMFNT Y (mm)
Fig. 11. Displacement response of point C for the incremental load of 10 N/mm2 and 5 N/mm2.
230 B. PUIEVICand Dj. VUKSANOVI~

CIRCULAR TRANSITION

E3? PJ YY-STRAIN

‘3
c>
CIRCULAR TRANSITION
-

NE Cd-
E r.
: r.l
22
1

UJ 2 I I I I I I I I I I

Y .oc i .43 i .I30 2.29 2.60 3.Srv

*KY3
E 32 F5 YY-STRAIN

Fig. 12. Strain ai point of first yield for the incremental solution with the load step of 10 N/mm’ and
5 N/mm’
 Elasto-plastic analysis of stresses in welded gusset plates 231

CIRCULARTRANSITION

DISPLACE-MENT Y (mm)

DISFLACEMENT Y (mm)

Fig. 13. Change of displacement at point C for increasing loads using the incremental solution with
BFGS equilibrium iterations for circular and elliptical transition contour.
 B. PLUEVK and Dj. VUKSANWIC

z
s
M cIF!cuLAR
TRANSITION
::

CROSS SCC’T ION a-a (mm)

ELLIPTICAL
TRANSITIOU

720.30 ‘?I:$ 30

CROSS SECTI3r\l a-a (mm)

Fig. 14. Distribution of stresses for cross-section a-a for different load steps.
 Elasto-plastic analysis of stresses in welded gusset plates 233

z I I I I I I I I I I
CJ
1 .oo i .40 I .80 2.20 2.60 3.00
-3
*13
E’ 32 P 3 YY-STRAIN
Fig. 15. Development of the strain at the point of first yield for the gusset plate with circular transition
contour.

2 Z
n 180 N/mm*
L Y
m
@d 200 N/"n?2 L Y
210 N/m2

CIRCULAR TRANSITION ELLIPTICAL TRANSITION

Fig. 16. Spread of plastic zones around point A.

Figure 13 shows the displacement at point C for 4. CONCLUDING REMARKS

increasing loads for the circular and elliptical tran-
sition contour.
Distribution of the stresses for the cross-section
a-a is shown in Fig. 14 for both models. In Fig. 15
the development of the strain YY at the point of first
yield with increasing loads is shown.
Spread of plastic zones for various load steps is
shown in Fig. 16. The material was steel. The fol-
lowing properties have been assumed for analysis:
yield stress in pure bending a, = 240 Nlmm2,
Young’s modulus E = 21000 N/mm*, strain hard-
ening modulus H = 1050 N/mm2, Poisson’s ratio Y
= 0.30.
The objective in this, paper was to present the
finite element analysis of gusset plates for elastic
and elasto-plastic material models using ADINA.
For linear analysis the agreement between the cal-
culated and experimental data is quite satisfactory
even for coarse finite element meshes.
The capability of the nonlinear finite element
analysis in predicting the behaviour of gusset plates
was also demonstrated. Our experiences in obtain-
ing the most accurate and effective solution using
ADINA for elasto-plastic analysis are the follow-
ing: (1) All procedures incorporated in the program
234 B. PUJEVICand Dj. VUKSANOVI~.
provide reasonable results; (2) the single step so-
lutions give results which are close to those ob-
tained with several load increments: (31 the use of
an incremental solution without iterations and with
the stiffness matrix reforming every time step is the
most economical approach: (4) the methods making
use of equilibrium iterations are considerably more
computer-resource consuming.
Although this study was restricted to the static
material nonlinear analysis for the simplest case of
loading (it was intended to be a preliminary nu-
merical study), the results are good and can be used
to reach useful conclusions about the behaviour of
gusset plates in more complex situations.
Ackno~led,qements-We gratefully acknowledge the fi-
nancial support of the Computing Centre of the Civil En-
gineering Faculty in Belgrade.
REFERENCES
I. M. Radojkovic and V. Brcic. Investigation of the gusset
plates, (in Serbo-Croatian). Zhornik 5, 197-210. Fac-
ulty of Civil Engineering. Belgrade (1962).
Z. LeSniak. PregIand Sputtwlnict~w 7, 160-165 (1965).
5: A. Tesar. Czechnslol’rrkiclr/ Acadmq of Sciences. Re-
port 388156.
4. ADINA-A finite element program for Automatic Dy-
namic Incremental Nonlinear Analysis. Report AE Xl-
1. ADINA Engineering (Sept. IYSl).
5. ADINA-PLOT-A Prom-am for disolav of inout and
output data using ADINA. Report AE 83-3. ADINA
Engineering (May 19X3).