Elastic Shear Buckling of Perforated Webs in Steel Plate Girders

This paper reports a study of the elastic buckling of the perforated webs of transversely stiffened steel plate girders. The finite element method was used in the analysis. The parameters varied were the panel aspect ratios and the shapes and sizes of centrally placed holes in them. For the major part of the study, the sizes of the flanges and transverse stiffeners were kept constant, but the effect of reducing the stiffness of these elements was briefly considered. The modelling used allowed the web plate to assume its natural boundary conditions. The results show that the buckling strength of a web panel bounded by flanges and stiffeners can be estimated by assuming that its edges are fixed. A simple formula which relates the elastic buckling stress of a perforated web plate to that of a similar intact web is proposed. The formula is applicable to web plates containing centrally placed circular, rectangular and elongated circular holes.

M.M.K. Lee and A.G. Kamtekar