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ESDEPWG8

PLATESANDSHELLS

Lecture8.4.1:PlateGirderBehaviourand
DesignI
OBJECTIVE

Tointroducebasicaspectsofthebehaviouranddesignofplategirders.Toexplainhowthetypicalproportionsemployedinfluencethetypesof
behaviourthatmustbeaddressedindesign,andtoidentifythevariousbucklingconsiderationsinvolved,asapreparationforsubsequent
considerationofthedesignapproachesofEurocode3[1].

PREREQUISITES

None

RELATEDLECTURES

Lectures3.2:Erection

Lecture7.2:CrosssectionClassification

Lecture7.3:LocalBuckling

Lecture8.1:IntroductiontoPlateBehaviourandDesign

Lecture8.4.2:PlateGirderBehaviourandDesignII

Lecture8.4.3:PlateGirderDesignSpecialTopics

Lecture11.8:SplicesinBuildings

Lecture14.4:CraneRunwayGirders

Lecture15B.3:PlateGirderandBeamBridges

SUMMARY

Modernplategirdersareintroducedbyexplainingtypicalusage,typesandthereasonsfortheirinherentslenderproportions.Theirbehaviour
isdescribedwithparticularemphasisonthedifferentformsofbucklingthatcanoccur.Thegeneralbasisofplategirderdesignisdiscussedin
asimplifiedwayasapreludetoamoredetailedpresentationinLectures8.4.2andLecture8.4.3.Postbucklingandtensionfieldactionare
introducedandtherolesofthemaincomponentsinaplategirderidentified.

1.INTRODUCTION
Modernplategirdersarenormallyfabricatedbyweldingtogethertwoflangesandawebplate,asshowninFigure1.Suchgirdersarecapable
ofcarryinggreaterloadsoverlongerspansthanisgenerallypossibleusingstandardrolledsectionsorcompoundgirders.Plategirdersare
typicallyusedaslongspanfloorgirdersinbuildings,asbridgegirders,andascranegirdersinindustrialstructures.

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Plategirdersareattheirmostimpressiveinmodernbridgeconstructionwheremainspansofwellover200marefeasible,withcorresponding
crosssectiondepths,haunchedoverthesupports,intherangeof510m.Becauseplategirdersarefabricatedseparately,eachmaybedesigned
individuallytoresisttheappliedactionsusingproportionsthatensurelowselfweightandhighloadresistance.

Forefficientdesignitisusualtochoosearelativelydeepgirder,thusminimisingtherequiredareaofflangesforagivenappliedmoment,Msd.
Thisobviouslyentailsadeepwebwhoseareawillbeminimisedbyreducingitsthicknesstotheminimumrequiredtocarrytheappliedshear,
Vsd.Suchawebmaybequiteslender(i.e.ahighd/twratio)andmaybepronetolocalbuckling(seeLecture7.3)andshearbuckling(see
below).Suchbucklingproblemshavetobegivencarefulconsiderationinplategirderdesign.Onewayofimprovingtheloadcarrying
resistanceofaslenderplateistoemploystiffeners(Lecture8.1)theselectionofappropriateformsofstiffeningisanimportantaspectofplate
girderdesign.

1.1Types
ThereareseveralformsofplategirderFigure2illustratesthreedifferenttypesunstiffened,transverselystiffened,andtransverselyand
longitudinallystiffened.ThethreegirdersshownhavebisymmetricIprofilecrosssections,althoughflangesofdifferentsizearesometimes
used,asalreadyshowninFigure1.Othertypesofcrosssection(seeFigure3)aremonosymmetricIprofiles,whicharepopularincomposite
constructionwiththesmallerflangeontop(seeLecture10.2),orascranegirders(seeLecture14.4)withthelargerflangeontop.Figure3also
showstwoother(lesscommon)variationsthe"deltagirder"andthetubulartopflangegirderbothbeingpossiblesolutionsincasesoflong
laterallyunsupportedtopcompressionflangespronetolateraltorsionalbuckling(seeLecture7.9.1and7.9.2).

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Thereisalsoconsiderablescopeforvariationofcrosssectioninthelongitudinaldirection.Adesignermaychoosetoreducetheflange
thickness(orbreadth)inazoneoflowappliedmoment,especiallywhenafieldsplicefacilitatesthechange.Equally,inazoneofhighshear,
thedesignermightchoosetothickenthewebplate(seeFigure4).Alternatively,highergradeFeE355steelmightbeemployedforzonesof
highappliedmomentandshear,whilestandardgradeFeE235wouldbeusedelsewhere.Socalled"hybrid"girderswithdifferentstrength
materialintheflangesandthewebofferanotherpossiblemeansofmorecloselymatchingresistancetorequirements.Moreunusualvariations
areadoptedinspecialcircumstances,suchasbridgework(seeLecture15B.4)e.g.taperedgirders,crankedgirders,haunchedgirders(see
Figure5),andofcourse,plategirderswithwebholestoaccommodateservices,seeFigure6.

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1.2Proportions
Sincethedesigner,inprinciple,isquitefreetochooseallthedimensionsofaplategirder,someindicationofthemoreusualproportionsis
nowgiven(seealsoFigure7):

Depth:Overallgirderdepth,h,willusuallybeintherangeLo/12hLo/8,whereLoisthelengthbetweenpointsofzeromoment.However,
forplategirderbridgestherangewillextendtoapproximatelyLo/20.

Flangebreadth:Thebreadth,b,willusuallybeintherangeh/5bh/3,bbeinginmultiplesof25mm.'Wideflats'maybeusedunlessthe
flangeisverywide.

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Flangethickness:Theflangethickness,tf,willusuallyatleastsatisfytherequirementsofEurocode3(Table5.3.1)forClass3(semi
compact)sections,i.e.c/tf14e.Thethicknesswillusuallybechosenfromthestandardplatethicknesses.

Webthickness:Webthickness,tw,willdeterminetheexactbasisforwebdesign,dependingonwhetherthewebisclassifiedwithregardto
shearbucklingas"thick"or"thin"(seelater).Thinwebswilloftenrequirestiffeningthismaytaketheformoftransversestiffeners,
longitudinalstiffenersoracombination,seeFigure2.Longitudinallystiffenedgirdersaremorelikelytobefoundinlargebridgeconstruction
wherehighd/twratiosareappropriate,e.g.200d/tw500,duetotheneedtominimiseselfweight.

Clearly,dependingontheparticularloadingpattern,andondepthandbreadthrestrictions,onecanexpectwidevariationswithinalltheabove
limitswhichshouldberegardedasindicativeonly.

2.DESIGNCONCEPTS
Understaticloading,ultimatelimitstatessuchasstrengthandstabilitywillnormallygovernmostplategirderdesign,withserviceabilitylimit
statessuchasdeflectionorvibrationbeinglesscritical.Someabsolutelimitsonplateslendernessareadvisablesoastoensuresufficient
robustnessduringerection.Agenerallyacceptedmethod[2]fordesigningplategirders(whichispermittedbyEurocode3)subjecttoa
momentMadandacoincidentshearVadistoproportiontheflangestocarryallthemomentwiththewebtakingalltheshear.Thisprovidesa
particularlyconvenientmeansforobtaininganinitialestimateofgirderproportions.

Thus,atanyparticularcrosssectionalongalaterallyrestrainedplategirder,subjecttospecificvaluesofbendingmomentandshearforce,the
flangeandwebplatescanbesizedseparately.Therequiredflangeplateareamayreadilybeobtainedasfollows:

Af=M/[(htf)fy/gMO]@M/(hfy/gMO)(1)

(AniterationortwomayberequireddependingonanassumedvalueoftfanditscorrespondingfyvaluefromTable3.1,Eurocode3).Because
the(normally)slenderwebwillpreventtheplasticmomentofresistanceofthecrosssectionfrombeingattained,theflangeb/tfrationeedonly
complywiththeEurocode3(Table5.3.1)requirementsforaClass3(semicompact)flange.Thecrosssectionalmomentofresistancemay
thenbecheckedusing:

Mf.Rd=btf(htf)fy/gMO(2)

Unfortunately,economicsizingofthewebplateisnotquiteasstraightforward,althoughwhereathickweb(definedlater)isacceptableitcan
berapidlysizedbyassuminguniformshearstresstyoveritswholearea.Thewebtoflangefilletweldsmustbedesignedtotransmitthe
longitudinalshearattheflange/webinterface.

3.INFLUENCEOFBUCKLINGONDESIGN
Providedthattheindividualplateelementsinagirderareeachkeptsufficientlystocky,thedesignmaybebasedonstraightforwardyield
strengthconsiderations.Economicandpracticalconsiderationswill,however,dictatethatnotalloftheseconditionswillalwaysbemet.In
mostcasesvariousformsofbucklingmustbetakenintoaccount.Figure8liststhedifferentphenomena.

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3.1ShearBucklingoftheWeb

Oncethed/twvalueforanunstiffenedwebexceedsalimitingfigure(69einEurocode3)thewebwillbuckleinshearbeforeitreachesitsfull
shearcapacityAwty.Diagonalbuckles,ofthetypeshowninFigure9(a),resultingfromthediagonalcompressionassociatedwiththeweb
shearwillform.Theirappearancemaybedelayedthroughtheuseofverticalstiffeners,seeFigure9(b)sincetheloadatwhichshearbuckling
isinitiatedisafunctionofbothd/twandpanelaspectratioa/d.

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3.2LateralTorsionalBucklingoftheGirder
ThistopiciscoveredinLecture7.9.1and7.9.2.

3.3LocalBucklingoftheCompressionFlange

Providedthatoutstandproportionsc/tfaresuitablyrestricted,localbucklingwillhavenoeffectonthegirder'sloadcarryingresistance.

3.4CompressionBucklingoftheWeb

Websforwhichd/tw124eandwhicharenotsubjecttoanyaxialloadwillpermitthefullelasticmomentresistancesofthegirdertobe
attained.Ifthislimitofd/tw(oraloweroneifaxialcompressioninthegirderasawholeisalsopresent)isexceeded,thenmomentresistance
mustbereducedaccordingly.Ifitisdesiredtoreachthegirder'sfullplasticmomentresistanceastricterlimitwillbeappropriate.

3.5FlangeInducedBucklingoftheWeb

Ifparticularlyslenderwebsareused,thecompressionflangemaynotreceiveenoughsupporttopreventitfrombucklingverticallyratherlike
anisolatedstrutbucklingaboutitsminoraxis.Thispossibilitymaybeeliminatedbyplacingasuitablelimitond/tw.Transversestiffenersalso
assistinresistingthisformofbuckling.

3.6LocalBucklingoftheWeb

Verticalloadsmaycausebucklingofthewebintheregiondirectlyundertheloadasforaverticalstrut.Thelevelofloadingthatmaysafelybe
carriedbeforethishappenswilldependupontheexactwayinwhichtheloadistransmittedtotheweb,thewebproportions,andthelevelof
overallbendingpresent.

4.POSTBUCKLINGSTRENGTHOFWEB
Owingtothepostbucklingbehaviour(seeLecture8.3)plates,unlikestruts,areoftenabletosupportloadsconsiderablyinexcessoftheir
initialbucklingload.Inplategirderwebsaspecialformofpostbucklingtermed"tensionfieldaction"ispossible.Tensionfieldaction
involvesachangeinthewayinwhichthegirderresistsshearloadingfromthedevelopmentofuniformshearinthewebatlowshearloads,to
theequivalenttrussaction,showninFigure10,atmuchhigherloads.Inthisactiontheelementsequivalenttotrussmembersare:theflanges,
whichformthechordstheverticalstiffenerswhichformthestrutsandthediagonaltensionbandswhichformtheties.Thecompressive
resistanceoftheotherdiagonalofeachwebpanelisvirtuallyeliminatedbytheshearbuckling.Thewayinwhichthisconceptisutilizedin
designisexplainedinLecture8.4.2.

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5.DESIGNCONSIDERATIONS
Theprincipalfunctionsofthemaincomponentsfoundinplategirdersmaybesummarisedasfollows:

Flanges resistmoment
Web resistsshear
Web/flangewelds resistlongitudinalshearatinterface
Verticalstiffeners improveshearbucklingresistance
Longitudinalstiffeners improveshearand/orbendingresistance.

6.CONCLUDINGSUMMARY
Themaincomponentsinaplategirderhavebeenidentifiedandtheirprincipalfunctionsnoted.
Initialsizingmaybemadeonthebasisthattheflangescarryallofthemomentandthewebtakesalloftheshear.
Shearbucklingislikelytopreventthefullwebshearresistancefrombeingattainedinslenderwebs.Itsappearanceneednotimply
failuresinceadditionalloadmaybecarriedthroughtensionfieldaction.
Webstiffeners(transverseand/orlongitudinal)enhancebothinitialbucklingandpostbucklingresistance.

7.REFERENCES
[1]Eurocode3:"DesignofSteelStructures":EuropeanPrestandardENV199311:Part1,Generalrulesandrulesforbuildings,CEN,1992.

[2]Narayanan,R.(ed).,"PlatedStructuresStabilityandStrength",AppliedSciencePublishers,London,1983.

Chapter1coversbasicaspectsofplategirderbehaviouranddesign.

8.ADDITIONALREADING
1.Dubas,P.andGehri,E.(eds),"BehaviourandDesignofPlatedSteelStructures",PublicationNo44,ECCS,1986.

Chapters4and5providemoredetailedaccountsofthemainfeaturesofplategirderbehaviouranddesign.

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