Altair S-FRAME 2021.

Modeling with
Partial Releases
Altair S-FRAME 2021.1
Partial Releases

Table of Contents

1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 3
1.1 Using Partial release feature. ........................................................................................................ 3
1.2 Using Elastic/Plastic Link Beam feature. ....................................................................................... 3
2 How to go about calculating a percent release .................................................................................... 4
3 A Case Study (2-bay 11-storey steel frame) .......................................................................................... 5
3.1 Basic model details ....................................................................................................................... 5
3.2 Comparison of results ................................................................................................................... 8
4 Summary ............................................................................................................................................... 9
5 References ............................................................................................................................................ 9

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Altair S-FRAME 2021.1
Partial Releases p. 3

Partial Release: How to model in S-FRAME and a case study

1 Introduction

S-FRAME Release 11 supports two types of member end releases, namely, full release and
Partial release. As opposed to the full release where a member’s end is idealized as perfectly
pinned, a Partial release can be used to model, for instance, a semi-rigid connection. This will
allow a partial transfer of moment between the column and the beam with some degree of
a connection’s rotational stiffness to be modeled.

There are two ways to model semi-rigid connections in S-FRAME:

1.1 Using Partial release feature.

The degree of release is specified as a percent, where 100% means full release or
pinned connection, 0% means no release or rigid connection, and anything between
0% and 100% is a Partial release. The rotational stiffness of a connection, which
characterizes the connection’s moment-rotation (𝑀 − 𝜃) relationship, is then
calculated by S-FRAME based on the flexural stiffness of the connected member and
the percent release. This approach is particularly useful if an exact value of a
connection’s stiffness may not be established at this design stage or if the engineer
wants to study the effects on the structural responses of varying connection’s stiffness
which is defined in relative terms of its rigidity/flexibility. However, given a
connection’s stiffness is known, the exact percent release can also be determined.
This will be discussed in more detail in Section 2.

1.2 Using Elastic/Plastic Link Beam feature.

This more general approach requires that the connection’s moment-rotation
relationship be defined using either a Multi-linear elastic or Multi-linear plastic
material model. More information on this feature can be found in a document,
Application Brief: Elastic/Plastic Link Beam, also available on S-FRAME’s Online
Resources.

This document’s main objective is to illustrate S-FRAME Analysis R11’s Partial release result
accuracy by comparing to results published in a reputable reference as well as 3rd party
software.

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Partial Releases p. 4

2 How to go about calculating a percent release

The percent release or its counterpart, namely, end-fixity factor (𝑟𝑗 ) is defined as follows [1]:
1
𝑟𝑗 = ; (𝑗 = 1,2) (1)
1+3𝐸𝐼/𝑅𝑗 𝐿

where, 𝑅𝑗 is the connection’s rotational stiffness at the member’s respective end and EI/L is
the flexural stiffness of the attached member. A percent release is then determined by, %
release = 100* (1 - 𝑟𝑗 ).

From equation (1), it is implied that the 𝑀 − 𝜃 relationship of a connection is defined by a

linear model, i.e., 𝑀 = 𝑅𝜃, which is the simplest way of modeling a connection. This is the
approach that most steel design codes have adopted and is being used in S-FRAME’s Partial
release feature.

From experiments, a 𝑀 − 𝜃 relationship of most types of connections is nonlinear. Figure 1

shows a schematic of typical 𝑀 − 𝜃 curves for various types of connections commonly used
in practice. A number of mathematical models for connections with varying complexity,
which are based on experimental testing of connections, had been proposed by various
researchers. These models can be used to establish the rotational stiffness of connections
under design consideration. Interested readers may refer to references [1]-[3] for a list of
published documents and related topics on modelling of connections.

Figure 1. Typical 𝑀 − 𝜃 curves for various types of connections (Courtesy of ref. [1])

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Partial Releases p. 5

3 A Case Study (2-bay 11-storey steel frame)

A number of models of 2-bay 11-storey steel frame, shown in Figure 2 with varying degrees
of Partial release at the beam-column connections, are analyzed in S-FRAME using the first
and second-order elastic analyses. The analysis results for each case are then compared with
those from reference [1], i.e., Handbook of Structural Engineering, second edition, and a 3rd
party software.

3.1 Basic model details

The geometry of the frame, the sections of structural members, and the applied loads
are as shown in Figure 2. All of the beam-column connections of the frame are assumed
to be identical and of semi-rigid type. The semi-rigid connections are then modelled
using S-FRAME’s Partial release feature. An S-FRAME model with the semi-rigid
connections being modeled as a 10% Partial release is shown in Figure 3.

Note that to compare the results with the 3rd party software, where the rotational
stiffness of a connection is required to be entered by the user, equation (2) is used to
determine the corresponding connection’s stiffness from a specified percent release.
For instance, to model a 10 % Partial release connection of a W530 x 123 beam, a
stiffness of 471,261.5 kN-m/rad has to be entered.
3𝐸𝐼 𝑟𝑗
𝑅𝑗 = ∗ ; (𝑗 = 1,2)
𝐿 (1−𝑟𝑗 )
(2)

%𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒
where, 𝑟𝑗 = 1 − ( )
100

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Altair S-FRAME 2021.1
Partial Releases p. 6

Figure 2. 2-Bay 11-Storey Steel Frame (Courtesy of ref. [1])

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Partial Releases p. 7

Figure 3. S-FRAME 2-Bay 11-Storey Steel Frame Model

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Partial Releases p. 8

3.2 Comparison of results

The lateral deflections obtained at the roof level for the first and second-order analyses
are compared between the reference [1], the 3rd party software and S-FRAME in Figure
4. Using the reference’s results as base values, Figure 5 illustrates these differences in
percent. This clearly indicates a very high accuracy of analysis results of S-FRAME’s
Partial release feature considering the maximum difference in results for all the cases
is only about 0.75%.

Comparison of Roof Deflections

1800
1600
Roof Lateral Deflection (mm)

1400
1200 Ref.- 1st Order
1000 3rd Party Software- 1st Order
800 S-FRAME- 1st Order

600 Ref.- 2nd Order

400 3rd Party Software- 2nd Order

200 S-FRAME- 2nd Order

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
% Partial Release

Figure 4. Comparison of Roof Deflections

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Partial Releases p. 9

Deflection Difference (%) vs Reference

7

6
Deflection Differnce (%)

4 3rd Party Software- 1st Order

3 S-FRAME- 1st Order

3rd Party Software- 2nd Order
2
S-FRAME- 2nd Order
1

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
% Partial Release

Figure 5. Deflection Difference in percent

4 Summary

The Partial release feature in S-FRAME allows the design engineers to model semi-rigid
connections with an evidently high confidence on the accuracy of results. As recommended
by the references, more appropriate and economical designs could be achieved when this
type of connection is considered in the design. A tutorial video on this feature can be found
from our web site at www.S-FRAME.com.

5 References

1. Handbook of Structural Engineering, Second Edition edited by W.F. Chen and E.M. Lui,
New York, 2005.
2. W.F. Chen and E.M. Lui (1991), Stability Design of Steel Frames

3. Faella et al. (2000), Structural Steel Semirigid Connections: Theory, Design and Software.

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