TABLE OF CONTENTS The basic relationship required in the curvature method is an analytical representation of the true moment-curvature-thrust curves by simple expressions which are then employed to obtain closed-form solutions. The moment-curvature-thrust relationships for cross sections of a general material which may have different yield stress levels in tension and compression and different strain limits for cracking and crushing were presented previously in Chap. 5. Typical numerical examples presented in Chap. 5 include also the following materials and shapes of cross section:
masonry walls,
concrete-filled steel tubular sections, and
reinforced concrete sections.
Some parameter functions which define the moment-curvature-thrust relationships of a specific cross section are given in Table 5.1 for steel cross sections and Tables 5.2 and 5.3 for concrete-filled steel tubular sections.
The elastic-plastic behavior of beam-columns throughout the entire range of loading up to and beyond the ultimate load for these cross sections can be obtained directly by the curvature method presented in Chap. 9 for symmetrically loaded cases, or indirectly by the column-curvature-curve (CCC) method presented in Chap. 10 for unsymmetrically loaded columns.
Since the methods of solution by the curvature technique have been presented in details in Chaps. 9 and 10 and the only difference is the m- ?-p relationships for different shapes and materials which were already discussed thoroughly in Chap. 5, the numerical results for the three cross sections mentioned above will be presented in this chapter as further application examples of the curvature method.
