Journal of Constructional Steel Research 55 (2000) 245–265 www.elsevier.com/locate/jcsr Advanced inelastic analysis of frame structures J.Y. Richard Liew a,* , W.F. Chen b , H. Chen a a Department of Civil Engineering, National University of Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 119260, Singapore b School of Civil Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette IN 47907, USA Abstract This paper provides a state-of-the-art summary of recent advances in inelastic analysis of space frame structures. Particular attentions are devoted to inelastic modelling of framework components for accurate representation of frame behaviour and the applications of plastic hinge analysis for large-scale framework. Issues related to inelastic buckling and post-buckling unloading of struts, modelling of gradual yielding in steel beam-columns, inelastic modelling of composite floor beams subject to sagging and hogging moments, modelling of building core walls and semi-rigid beam-to-column connections in three-dimensional frameworks are discussed. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the acceptability of the use of the inelastic models in predicting the ultimate strength and inelastic behaviour of spatial frame- works.  2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Advanced analysis; Beam-column; Connection model; Inelastic analysis; Limit-state design; Nonlinear analysis; Plastic hinge; Semi-rigid connection; Thin-walled element 1. Introduction The conventional approach for teaching advanced structural analysis courses is to treat theory of structural stability and plastic analysis/design as two separate topics. Little time has been spent to formulate solution methods and solve problems combin- ing the theories of plasticity and stability. This philosophy of teaching combined with a need to simplify practical problems has led to an analysis/design approach in which forces and deformation demands are estimated from an elastic analysis and acceptability of a structure is assessed by comparing the demands with the compo- nent capacities defined in traditional limit-states checks. In other words, the design * Corresponding author. 0143-974X/00/$ - see front matter  2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII:S0143-974X(99)00088-7