Web bend-buckling strength of plate girders with two longitudinal web stiffeners

Abstract

More than one longitudinal web stiffener may be economical in the design of plate girders that have considerably high width-to-thickness ratio of webs. In this study, the bend-buckling strength of relatively deep webs with two horizontal lines of flat plate-shaped single-sided stiffeners was numerically investigated. Linear eigenvalue buckling analyses were conducted for specially selected hypothetical models of stiffened web panels, in which top and bottom junctions of a web with flanges were assumed to have simply supported boundary conditions. Major parameters in the analyses were the locations of two longitudinal stiffeners, stress ratios in the web, slenderness ratios and aspect ratios of web panels. Based on the application of assumptions on the combined locations of the two longitudinal web stiffeners, simplified equations were proposed for the bend-buckling coefficients and compared to the case of one longitudinal stiffener. It was found that bend-buckling coefficients can be doubled by adopting two longitudinal stiffeners instead of one longitudinal stiffener. For practical design purposes, additional equations were proposed for the required bending rigidity of the longitudinal stiffeners arranged in two horizontal lines on a web.