Yield-Line analysis by AISC's Carlo Lini ==> using SketchUp 4

[Ingenuity]

In the Feb 2019 issue of AISC's Modern Steel Construction magazine, Carlo Lini (AISC's director of technical assistance) has a good article in "steelwise" segment on yield-line analysis and how to determine flexural limit states.

The article link is here: Link on pages 17-19, or see the attached PDF.

A unique approach Carlo uses is using SketchUp to displace/rotate the yield-line and determine the rotations. A tutorial video is here: [link aisc.org/yieldvid]Link[/url]

 

[Agent666]

Thanks for posting, I can see this being damn handy as a design (or checking) tool for those cases that don't meet any published or easily derived solutions.

Still involves picking a valid or critical mechanism, but I can see it being a good way to visualise whether you have a mechanism or not so you don't miss any of those yieldlines!

 

[JoshPlumSE]

For what it's worth, I think Carlo's sketch up solution may be more accurate than the formulas. The Formulas, I believe assume an infinitely thin web, whereas he sketches it out to his exact geometry.

 

[Ingenuity]

Agent666: You are welcome. Indeed, a very handy tool.

JoshPlum: Good point on the thin web assumption vs Carlo taking into account the web/flange thickness geometry.

AISC has some great technical info - Engineering Journal, Modern Steel, their Night School series, Youtube channel etc.