Moment Distribution is a structural analysis method published by Hardy Cross in the 1930's and is based on the principle that member-end-moments in a joint in static equilibrium sum to zero. The method is typically taught in undergraduate structural analysis courses and is recognizable to most civil engineers for its use of distribution factors derived from the relative rotational stiffness of the members framing into a joint, and the distribution of moments from joint-to-joint. Before the advent of computer-aided structural analysis, moment distribution was the dominant method for solving complex, indeterminate beam and frame systems due to its use of simple calculations, which can be solved without the use of simultaneous equations. In this thesis, a closed-form solution for finding the final member-end-moments of a simple frame is derived using equations specific to each joint, without distribution of moments or solving simultaneous equations. This thesis is intended as the first step to closed-form analysis of two and three dimensional frame systems commonly found in civil structures.
