BeamwithHinges Element with fiber section

[eerduran]

Hi there,

I tried to carry out a pushover analysis for a 3 story RC frame using beamwithHinges3 element. I defined fiber sections for the inelastic regions with a hingelength of 0.15L. I had used this configuration in the past for dynamic analysis successfully. However, the pushover analysis never converges. Then I changed the element type to nonlinearBeamColumn and everything was fine. So there is nothing wrong with the model or the fiber section.

I wonder if there is a problem known to anyone regarding the use of beamwithHinges element with the fiber section in the static pushover analysis

[silvia]

what kind of convergence issues are you having?
is the hinge length a reasonable value? could it be too long, or too short???
how many integration points do you use in the nbc?

btw, beamWithHinges3 is now the default for beamWithHinges, so you can drop the 3.

[eerduran]

Thanks Silvia,

I found the problem. In version 1.6 the definition of hinge length (HL) had been modified. HL was used to be defined as the ratio to the total length. I had not noticed it that is why the hinge lengths were too small.