A 3D fibre beam-column element with shear modelling for the inelastic analysis of steel structures

A force-based fiber beam-column element is proposed for the capacity assessment of frame structures under high shear. The proposed element is suitable for the performance assessment of large scale steel structures, which are not flexure-dominated. The element formulation follows the assumptions of the Timoshenko beam theory, while its kinematics are obtained through the natural-mode method. The element state-determination phase, instead of uniaxial material laws, typically associated with fiber elements, is based on a three-dimensional law taking into consideration the interaction between axial, bending, shear and torsion. Numerical examples are presented confirming the accuracy and the computational efficiency of the proposed formulation under monotonic, cyclic and dynamic/seismic loading. Compared to experimental results and the results of detailed finite element models, excellent agreement is achieved.