Reference Type: Journal Article Record Number: 1 Author: Yamaguchi, E. Year: 2008 Title: Practical finite element procedure for achieving mesh objectivity in local buckling analysis of steel structures by beam elements Journal: Advanced Steel Construction Volume: 5 Issue: 3 Pages: 13 Start Page: 224 Short Title: Practical finite element procedure for achieving mesh objectivity in local buckling analysis of steel structures by beam elements DOI: 10.18057/IJASC.2009.5.3.1 Keywords: Steel structure; local buckling; beam element; mesh objective; softening-type constitutive relationship Abstract: Since the nonlinear finite element analysis of a steel structure by shell/solid elements is expensive, effort has been made to conduct the local buckling analysis of a steel structure by beam elements. To this end, the structural deterioration due to local buckling of a steel member is implemented in constitutive relationship. The approach inevitably leads to the constitutive relationship of softening type, which however does not readily yield mesh objective result. The present study proposes a finite element procedure to overcome the problem: in a local-buckling zone, average state variables instead of local state variables are used. The effectiveness of the proposed procedure is verified by solving example problems. Moreover, the applicability of a simple trilinear type of constitutive relationship associated with the proposed beam-element analysis is investigated in comparison with shell-element analysis by ABAQUS. Author Address: Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Tobata, Kitakyushu, Japan