General behaviour and effect of rigid and non-rigid end post in stainless steel plate girders loaded in shear. Part II: Extended numerical study and design proposal

Abstract

After the deep analysis and evaluation of the experimental and numerical results obtained during the described experimental campaign [Estrada I, Real E, Mirambell E. General behaviour and effect of rigid and non-rigid end post in stainless steel plate girders loaded in shear. Part I: Experimental study. Journal of Constructional Steel Research 2005 [submitted for publication]], an extended numerical analysis in code ABAQUS [Hibbit, Karlsson and Sorensen Inc., ABAQUS/Standard, Version 6.3. User’s manual. Rhode Island (USA); 2002] has been carried out dealing with the evaluation of the postbuckling strength in stainless steel plate girders. Finally, a proposal of design expressions for predicting their ultimate shear capacity is made since current design specifications dealing with shear resistance included in Eurocode 3, Part 1–4 [European Committee for Standardisation. ENV 1993-1–4. Eurocode 3: Design of steel structures. Part 1.4: General rules—supplementary rules for stainless steel. Brussels; 1996] have been demonstrated to be overly conservative. Taking special attention of the material non-linearity and the rigid or non-rigid condition of the end post, specimens covering a wide range of slenderness and aspect ratios ( a / d from 0.5 to 3.0) have been numerically tested. Austenitic and Duplex stainless steel grades, which are the most commonly used in construction, have been evaluated during the whole analysis development. Finally, a new design proposal based on the Rotated Stress Field model developed by Höglund [Höglund T. Shear buckling resistance of steel and aluminium plate girders. Thin-Walled Structures 1998;29(1–4):13–30], adequately adapted to the particular features of stainless steel is presented in order to reach a more optimum use of this relatively modern resistant material in construction.