How an Elastic Link works?

Considering a simple frame structure with rigid supports and solving manually and on the
member BC we apply a concentrated load of at the middle of the member

Solving via slope deflection method:

[ ] [ ] [ ][ ]

Where and are the fixed end moments for joints and respectively,

Similarly we can formulate the slope deflection equation for and .

On solving the equations for compatibility and equilibrium i.e. and and

So solving the Equations:

On solving these and putting the values for and .

So,

So in member BC
If we analyse the FBD of the structure we will get

Similarly in column AB

Analysis using midas Civil

Now analysing the same structure in midas Civil (assuming a very thin section so as to avoid
the Panel Zone effects), we get the following results which are matching that of our manual
calculations.
Axial Forces for each member

As we can observe it perfectly matches our manual calculations

Now we apply the concept of elastic links i.e. we dissociate the corners B and C into 2 nodes
and join them via an elastic link.

The major application of elastic link is that it will create a dimensionless dummy element
between those nodes and to that element we define the respective stifness in all 6 dof’s.

So, in order to realise the above sample problem we define a General Link and manually
assign very high stiffness to the link (so that it acts as a rigid link)
Now running the analysis we get the following results

Bending Moments

Axial Forces

So, we see it nearly converges to our manual calculations.

Now if we completely remove the rotational stiffness in this example, then the member BC
is free to rotate about B and C and no moments will be transferred to the columns, so in a
way no axial force will be generated in BC. So, now the member BC acts as a simply
supported beam. The following results show exactly that.
Axial Forces

Similarly for elastic link between 6 and 4 if we remove even the stiffness of the elastic
link i.e. it will remove the restrain at node 6 for vertical displacement in a way the member
BC will act like a cantilever.
The results are as follows:

And since the vertical force can’t be transferred through the elastic link between nodes 6
and 4, hence, the axial force will be zero in column CD (in a way CD becomes inactive in X-Z
plane.)

So this shows the basics on which the elastic link works.

Also since for the transfer of moments and forces, a stiffness matrix can be created, which
is explained below. This matrix can be used to carry out calculations for elastic links.