Full-Range Shear Behavior of a Nonprismatic Beam with Steel Trapezoidal Corrugated Webs: Experimental Tests and FE Modeling

Abstract

This paper presents the first experimental and numerical investigation of the full-range shear behavior of a nonprismatic overhanging beam with concrete slabs and steel trapezoidal corrugated webs. The results showed that the traditional calculation hypothesis that the steel trapezoidal corrugated webs resist the total vertical shear in a section was not applicable to nonprismatic members. The inclined bottom concrete slab shared a significant portion of the shear force in the region with a larger hogging moment; thus, the actual shear force experienced by the steel trapezoidal corrugated webs subsequently decreased. The dominant factor of the shear force redistribution between the concrete slabs and the steel trapezoidal corrugated webs was the Resal effect, which was also a crucial factor contributing to the differences in shear behavior between prismatic and nonprismatic beams with steel trapezoidal corrugated webs. In addition, eigenvalue buckling analyses of geometric imperfections and nonlinear buckling analyses using the Riks algorithm were carried out for a nonprismatic beam with steel trapezoidal corrugated webs considering material and geometric nonlinearities. The experiment also indicated that the cracking and crushing of the concrete slabs was another important factor affecting the ultimate bearing capacity of the test beam. A significant finding that may invalidate intuitive knowledge was that the shear buckling of the steel trapezoidal corrugated webs did not occur at the support section, although this section bore the maximum shearing force and bending moment and had the highest section depth. Because of the Resal effect, the maximum shear stress and shear buckling in the steel trapezoidal corrugated webs were located at a certain distance from the support.