Shear Strength of Beams with Corrugated Webs

Abstract

Beams with corrugated webs were tested to failure under shear; the failure was due to buckling of the web. The test specimens were modeled using finite elements and the computer program ABAQUS was used to perform nonlinear analysis; the load increment as well as the mesh size were selected based on studies to examine their effects. The comparison between the results from the finite-element anaylsis and the tests was satisfactory. The average ratio between the analytical and experimental buckling loads was calculated to be 1.15. The primary reason why the analytical results are higher is the presence of unavoidable imperfections in the webs of the test specimens. Finite-element models with seeded imperfections gave results very close to those obtained from the tests. It was noted from the experimental as well as the analytical results that buckling of the web is local and global for the coarse and dense corrugations, respectively. Buckling formulas are suggested, which are based on local buckling of the corrugation folds as isotropic flat plates or global buckling of the entire web panel as an orthotropic plate. Comparisons between the results from the formulas, the finite-element analysis, and the tests are given and shown to be satisfactory.