Finite Element Analysis of Curved Thin-Walled panels

Sohag Engineering Journal, 2022

Steel plate girders with trapezoidal corrugated webs have been used widely over the last years around the world in many roadways and railway steel bridges as they can introduce several important advantages compared with plate girders bridges with flat web. The study in this paper presents a numerical investigation of flange buckling behavior using the FE software ABAQUS and studies the effect of slenderness ratio of the flange and corrugated web on the bending moment capacity and the flexural behavior of trapezoidal corrugated web steel plate girders built-up from high-strength steel (HSSs). Firstly, the linear buckling analysis has been carried out to obtain the local flange buckling coefficient using the general equation of stresses and the stresses obtained from the numerical results, then the ultimate bending moment has been obtained from the nonlinear buckling analyses. The numerical results showed that the flange slenderness ratio and web slenderness ratio play a major role in controlling the bending moment capacity of corrugated web plate girders. Finally, some recommendations have been listed to help structural engineers to design corrugated web bridge girders efficiently.

The Bulletin of the Polytechnic Institute of Jassy, Construction. Architecture Section, 2013

In this paper we present a comparative analysis regarding the shear web resistance between five types of steel plate girders and a girder with corrugated webs. The web buckling resistance of steel plate girders is established in accordance with EN 1993-1-5: Plated Structural Elements-§5.3. In the case of girders with corrugated webs, the background for the shear resistance of the web and the beam verification is the Annex D to EN 1993-1-5: Plate Girders with Corrugated Webs.

2023

Tapered Plate girders are considered the best efficient choice in design of the industrial buildings and bridges with large-span. Openings in the web of plate girders are frequently required to give space for services, resulting in increased fabrication costs and a reduction in load-carrying capability. The aim of the present paper is to estimate the critical shear buckling of tapered plate girders containing a circular or square opening. Finite element simulations were performed on 176 steel beams with prismatic and tapered web containing two different shapes of openings (circular and square). The analysis considered the effects of tapering angle, hole size with respect to the average height of the web, aspect ratio, depth to thickness ratio and the boundary conditions between the web and flanges. The numerical results are used to estimate an analytical expression for the critical shear stress of prismatic and tapered web panels containing a circular or square opening.

2021

Steel plate girders with trapezoidal corrugated webs (TCWPGs) have been used over the last years around the world in many roadway and railway steel bridges as they can introduce several important advantages compared to flat web plate girders. The proper design of corrugated web girders depends mainly on the flexural and shear capacity of them. However, the flexural capacity is more important. Also, not many researchers studied the flexural capacity of such girders especially, when flange local buckling failure type (FLB) occurs in these corrugated web girders. In this paper, the flange local buckling behavior of steel trapezoidal corrugated web girders built up from high-strength steel (HSS) plates has been investigated to get the advantages of both the technique of corrugated web plates (CWPs) and the high-strength steel material (HSSs) together. A new numerical parametric study on four important parameters has been carried out to explain and investigate the flange local buckling b...

2018

Today, bridge girders with curved flanges and webs are becoming common in order to increase the aesthetic value and to improve the quality of the structure. Despite the use of these new shapes, not much research has been done in this field. The aim of the present research is to develop an experimental test setup, during which box girders with changing web curvature are subjected to a constant shear force. The specimens were made from plastic sheets (with thickness 0.125 mm) to create the webs and flanges, and MDF wood to create the external stiffeners. In a later phase, numerical models are created, which have the same properties and characteristics as the experimental specimens. These include a height of 70 mm, a width of 30 mm, and curvature radii of 1500, 5, 3, 5/3, 1 and 0.55 times the web height. The aim of the test is to analyse the elastic buckling behaviour of the webs and the failure condition of the specimen. The experimental results are analysed and compared with numerical results, for which no imperfections were included. Tests indicate that the elastic buckling load is increasing with increasing curvature, whereas for the failure load the opposite happens. The numerical models show identical behaviour, with higher loads. The failure load behaviour changes according to flat web or shell behaviour of the specimen. The results showed that flatter webs have much more postbuckling capacity than the most curved webs. The deformation pattern of the web is also different for both categories. Where the flatter webs had diagonal tension lines, the most curved webs had more horizontal bulges, shifting to the upper web-flange juncture. The difference between the numerical and experimental results can be blamed to the lack of imperfections implemented in the first approach. Earlier numerical research 1 with closed steel sections, show that the failure load line is increasing with growing curvature. The high web slenderness for the experimental specimen causes opposite results for the failure load. For an increasing curvature, the post-buckling capacity is decreasing, while the elastic buckling capacity is increasing. This all results in an increasing or decreasing failure load curve.

Plate girders became popular in the late 1870's, when they were used in construction of railroad bridges. The plates were joined using angles and rivets to obtain plate girders of desired size. By 1940's welded plate girders replaced riveted and bolted plate girders in developed world due to their better quality, aesthetics and economy. The corrugated steel plates are widely used structural elements in many fields of application because of its numerous favourable properties. To increase the shear capacity of web for large steel plate girders, the web with different types such as tapered web, haunches, corrugations of different shapes are used. Corrugated steel panels have been recognized as excellent load carrying members". In this project the stiffness of plate girders with different corrugation parameters were compared and it was established that corrugated web plate girders are better than plane web plate girder.

2018

The structural behavior of box-girders under pure bending moment is analyzed and discussed on the basis of the results of experiments performed by the author. The box girders are geometrically similar but made of different materials and having different stiffener’s geometries. The influence of the main parameters that influence the ultimate strength of box-girders under pure bending moment is analyzed and discussed. Practical design formulas are derived and presented, allowing for a fast evaluation of the performance of the boxes under pure bending. The achievements may be extrapolated to the analysis of the hull girder of ship and used as a basis for the structural codes of ship design.

Journal of Engineering Research

Abstract: The structural action of a beam is predominantly bending, with other effects such as shear, bearing and buckling also being presented. Due to the more application of corrugated section in steel design, this paper develops a three-dimensional finite element model using SAP2000 to investigate the effects of web corrugation on bending behavior of corrugated web profile (CWEB) steel sections. A corrugated web profile (CWEB) steel section is a built-up steel section made up of two flanges connected to a web plate of triangular profile. Thin shell element was chosen to represent the element type of the model. Three models were used for analysis one of flat web (FW) and two sizes of CWEB of different corrugation angle. Design is done based on IS: 800-2007(LSM). Loads considered in modeling are Dead load, Live load Wind load and Earthquake load along with the combination as specified in IS. Response spectrum analysis and time history analysis are carried out for zone 5, structural parameters like self weight, vertical deflection, lateral deflection and design forces results are compared for all the models. Keywords: Finite Element Model; Bending; corrugated Web Profile Title: Behaviour of Plate Girder With Flat Web And Corrugated Web Author: Sachin K.G, Mrs.Sowjanya G.V, Mr. Muralidhar N International Journal of Civil and Structural Engineering Research ISSN 2348-7607 (Online) Research Publish Journals

Journal of Constructional Steel Research, 2014

In bridge construction, the use of stiffened plates for box-girder or steel beams is common day to day practice. The advantages of the stiffening from the economical and mechanical points of view are unanimously recognized. For curved steel panels, however, applications are more recent and the literature on their mechanical behaviour including the influence of stiffeners is therefore limited. Their design with commercial finite element software is significantly time-consuming, which reduces the number of parameters which can be investigated in an optimization procedure. The present paper is thus dedicated to the study of the behaviour of stiffened curved panels under uniform longitudinal compression. It addresses the linear buckling and the ultimate strength which are both influenced by the coupled effects of curvature and stiffening. It finally proposes a design methodology based on that for stiffened flat plates adopted by European Standards and a column-like behaviour.

Compared with conventional plate girder with flat web, plate girders with tubular rectangular flanges have shown better flexural resistance and very stiff torsional resistance. Their flat webs are comparatively flexible and may allow for web distortion to reduce their resistances to lateral torsional buckling. Using innovative web systems in plate girders, like corrugated webs, may lead to better distortional resistance and improvement of lateral torsional buckling capacity of plate girders. This paper deals with this problem by comparing different systems of plate girders, different flange and web types, both using finite element model and mathematical model. A simple but sufficiently accurate closed-form solution is introduced for the effect of distortion of simply supported tubular flanges as well as warping resistance for corrugated web. Different types are compared to figure out the best shape and geometrical configuration for the girders.

Composite Structures, 2008

The experimental methodology to test curved panels under three-point bend (3PB) load is assessed. The problem arises when mechanical and strength characterization of pipe material systems is required. Test specimens cut out from pipe samples oriented in the tangential direction were used to measure hoop modulus and strength. In this procedure singly curved beams with the same radius as the pipe are obtained. The present assessment was made using three different approaches: Finite Element Method (FEM) with nonlinear geometrical analysis, curved beam theory and an approximate 2D elasticity solution. It was verified that for some cases the nonlinear effect becomes important. Furthermore the maximum span achievable, which is limited by the specimen's geometry, can prevent the use of appropriate span/thickness ratios to avoid significant shear effects. However it was concluded that for typical GRP shell panels, with internal radius between 150 and 250 mm and a wall thickness of 12 mm, the 3PB tests display an almost linear relationship between applied load and maximum deflection. Moreover, reasonable accurate results, with an error lower than 5%, can be expected using the curved beam theory formulas. Finally some preliminarily experimental results are presented for the 250 mm radius beams with a thickness of 12 mm.

Journal of Constructional Steel Research, 2014

Summarized herein is a study that explored single span, horizontally curved, plate girders having a yield stress of 50 ksi (345 MPa) to investigate their flexural behavior as a function of the position of a single longitudinal stiffener at various locations along the depth of the web. The studies were conducted using ABAQUS [1] with the girder cross-sections under high vertical bending moment and low shear. As a result of these studies, recommendations are made for positioning longitudinal stiffeners on horizontally curved webs that complement existing criteria for straight plate girders in bending. The study shows that, for the high flexure situations and girder specimens that were examined: (1) the optimal position for longitudinal stiffeners on a horizontally curved web does not appear to differ appreciably from that for a straight web as recommended in the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications [2]; and (2) horizontal curvature can contribute to enhancing web stability, and, in certain instances, curvature may mitigate the need to use longitudinal stiffeners to help increase cross-section flexural strength.

Engineering Structures, 2010

While I-girders with trapezoidal web corrugations have been used in various structural applications and bridges, lateral torsion-flexure of I-girders with trapezoidal web corrugations still needs to be investigated, especially the general formulation for cross-section properties. This paper presents the results of theoretical and finite element analyses of the lateral-torsional buckling of an I-girder with trapezoidal web corrugations under uniform moment. By using the numerical equations and method, the location of shear center and warping constant are proposed. The elastic lateral-torsional buckling strength is then calculated via proposed cross-section properties. The results are compared with previous studies in the literature. A series of finite element analyses with different corrugation profiles and lengths are investigated and the results are compared with proposed formulas. Through comparative numerical studies, the proposed formulas are successfully verified. The effects of corrugation profiles on elastic lateral-torsional buckling strength are also investigated and discussed.

Port-Said Engineering Research Journal

I-shaped Steel Girders with Corrugated Webs [SGCW] are used in steel structures because of their notable advantages. SGCW permits using a thin web plate without using stiffeners. This girder is useful for eliminating the use of stiffeners and larger thicknesses that contribute to the reduction in the weight and the cost of the girder. In this paper, a numerical study based on the Finite Element Analysis [FEA] was conducted to predict the behavior of SGCW. The verification study was conducted for previous experimental tests. Based on the previous investigations, the parametric study was carried on to investigate the actual behavior of SGCW with different parameters such as the web thickness, the girder height, the web shapes, and the corrugated angles under different loads. The results of the parametric study showed the effect of each parameter on the overall load carrying capacity of the beams and indicated that the corrugated angle is the most effective parameter for SGCW.