Flexural Strength of I‐Beams with Holes in the Tension Flange

Abstract

AbstractThis paper focuses on the flexural strength of steel wide‐flange members that have holes in the tension flange. A comparison of the scant experimental data in literature with the strength predicted using the 2016 American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) Specification shows that the predictions are not very accurate and most of the time are quite conservative. The research presented in this paper discusses a parametric analysis performed numerically in an effort to develop a design equation that better fits experimental data, without compromising the safety of flexural members. Extant literature already attempted proposing replacement design equations to address this issue. This paper proposes new design equations and compares all proposed replacements against experimental data augmented by the results of a series of numerical analyses aimed at filling the gaps in the available experimental datasets. These analyses were performed accounting for damage initiation in the finite element models, in an attempt to establish the bending moment at which fracture initiates and were calibrated against known experimental results. It is concluded that the introduction of the concept of a net plastic section modulus, calculated across the cross‐section containing the tension flange holes, provides the best practical approach to attain an accurate, yet conservative, estimate of the effective flexural capacity of a beam with holes in the tension flange.