Resistance of longitudinally stiffened I-girders subjected to concentrated loads

This paper presents a design procedure for the determination of the ultimate resistance of longitudinally stiffened girder webs to concentrated loads. The influence from the longitudinal stiffener is considered in the slenderness parameter lambda, through the buckling coefficient k(f). This procedure is harmonized with other design procedures currently used for describing buckling problems in steel structures. An expression is developed for the buckling coefficient based on finite element analysis. The interaction between the web plate with flanges and a longitudinal stiffener was considered in the analysis. The ultimate strength according to the design procedure presented herein and the results are compared with available experimental results. The interaction with bending is also investigated. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.