A design model for continuous composite beams with large web openings

Continuous composite beams can be designed according to the plastic hinge theory. The plastic reserves of the cross section and of the system are used to full capacity with this method. The treatment of large web openings was not clarified for the appliance of the plastic hinge theory until now At the Institute for Concrete Structures and Structural Design at the Kaiserslautern University of Technology a research project, which was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), was executed. Within this project continuous composite beams with openings were experimentally and numerically investigated. Furthermore a design model for calculating those beams according to the plastic hinge theory was developed. In this paper the design model is presented.