Plastic strain accumulation in EBF shear links is not linear

Cyclic Plastic Strain Growth in EBF Shear Links

Hyland Consultants is a licenced user of the powerful ABAQUS CAE 6.12 finite element software.  Recently we assessed the development of cyclic plastic strain development in shear links of  seismic resisting eccentrically braced steel frames (EBF).  The analyses found that plastic strain growth in shear links is not linearly cumulative particularly when strain ageing effects can develop between loading events.