Cantilever welded wide-flange beams with sinusoidal corrugations in webs: Full-scale tests and design implications

Abstract

Wide-flange members with sinusoidal corrugations in webs are recently developed and gradually accepted as alternatives to wide-flange members with flat webs and trapezoidally corrugated webs. However, limited knowledge is available regarding flexural behavior of such members. This research investigates flexural behavior of the cantilever wide-flange members with sinusoidal corrugations in webs. First, four cantilever specimens were constructed. Each specimen was tested using a monotonically increased point load applied at the free end. Test results show that the specimens overall exhibited the flexural torsional buckling behavior, which is similar to that of the conventional wide-flange members with the flat webs and subjected to the same loading and boundary conditions. Next, computer models were developed for the tested specimens. Both eigenvalue analyses and nonlinear static analyses were conducted to glean the buckling strength of each specimen. It was found that the nonlinear static analyses can provide reasonable predictions of the strengths of the tested specimens. Based on the validated computer models, parametric analyses were conducted to investigate the influence of initial geometrical imperfection on strength of the cantilever wide-flange members with corrugations in webs. In addition, the flexural performances of the cantilever wide-flange members with sinusoidally corrugated webs were compared with those of the corresponding wide-flange members with the flat webs based on the computer simulations. The computer models were further analyzed to assess adequacy of some existing models for calculating strength of the wide-flange members with sinusoidal corrugations in webs.