Tests on Miniature Portal Frames

In a recent paper an account was given of an investigation of the behaviour of structures in the plastic range up to collapse ancl of a method of designing single bay rectangular portal frames subjected to vertical and horizontal point loads. The method, which has been described in greater detail in an earlier paper was based on the condition of the structure at collapse which occurred when plastic hinges were formed at a sufficient number of sections to produce a mechanism. Theoretical considerations indicated several possible modes of collapse (i.e., positions of the plastit hinges) depending on the relationships of the external loads andimensions of the portal. The purpose of the present paper is the experimental verification of the theory.

Professor J.F. Baker and J. Heyman