On the minimum-maximum bending moment and the least-weight design of semi-rigid beams
Semi-rigid steel construction has been adopted in modern design specifications of steel structures for many years. Unlike traditional analysis and design of steel structures in which connections are usually idealized as either pinned or fully rigid, the analysis of semi-rigid structures accounts for the rotational behaviour of connections. Therefore, more realistic predictions of the responses and strength of such structures can be obtained for the purposes of generating cost-effective designs. This paper first presents and proves the achievable minimum value of the maximum bending moment for a semirigid beam under an applied load due to the variation of connection stiffness. A second theorem concerns the relationship between the achievable least-weight design and the minimum-maximum moment for the semi-rigid beam through the modification of connection stiffness, and is shown to be useful in the design of semi-rigid structures.
bending moment least-weight design semi-rigid beam connection stiffness optimization