BS5400 Part 3 course TE Epsom

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BS5400 Part 3 Training

DOCUMENT REFERENCE: AR8610/br/special structures/training/BS5400 Part
3//conversion/tmp/scratch/359587239.doc

Report Title: Session 4: Section Classification (Clause 9.3)

Revision: 1

Status: Final

1 9/9/04 Draft Chris Hendy Chris Murphy Chris Hendy

Rev Date Status Written by Checked by Authorised by

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SESSION 4

1. SECTION CLASSIFICATION (CLAUSE 9.3)

Introduction
In BS5400 Part 3, beams are classified as either compact or non-compact. The
compactness is governed by the resistance of parts of the section in compression to
local buckling. The greater the ratio of thickness of plate to width or height of plate,
the greater is the buckling resistance and the more likely it is that the plate will be
compact. Individual parts of the cross section are checked for compactness and only if
all parts are compact can the entire section be described as compact.

A compact section is one which can develop its plastic moment resistance. Not all
sections capable of developing the plastic moment resistance would necessarily be
suitable for plastic global analysis as some would have insufficient rotation capacity to
form rotating plastic hinges without local buckling occurring. Eurocode 3 defines an
additional class which can be used for plastic analysis but as plastic global analysis is
not permitted in BS5400 Part 3 a similar definition is not necessary.

A non-compact section in BS5400 Part 3 is any section where the moment cannot
exceed that which produces first yield at an extreme fibre. This is because local
buckling limits the capacity of the section. Very slender plates (with high width to
thickness ratio) cannot even reach first yield before local buckling occurs. The
treatment of very slender unstiffened flanges and webs is different as seen below. In
the Eurocodes, two classifications are used within this band in BS5400 to distinguish
between sections which can achieve first yield and those which are so slender that they
buckle even before first yield is reached. No such distinction is made in BS5400 but
the different behaviours are accounted for: Limits on shape are imposed on flange
outstands so that they can reach yield. No such limits are made for webs or flanges in
box girders but reductions are made to the effective area of these elements instead to
account for local buckling.

The behaviour of compact and non-compact beams in bending is shown in Figure 1.

M M M
Mpl Mpl
Mpl
Mel Mel

Compact Non-compact first Non-compact first
yield attainable yield unattainable
Figure 1 - Idealised moment rotation relationships for compact and non-
compact sections
Discussions in these notes do not cover beams with longitudinal stiffeners, haunched
beams or beams curved in elevation.

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Check for compactness

(i) Flange outstands in compression

To be classed as a compact section, the ratio bfo/tfo should not exceed 7 355/ y for
flange outstands where:
bfo is the width of the outstand measured from the edge to the nearest line of rivets
or bolts connecting it to the supporting part of the member, or to the toe of a
root fillet of a rolled section, or, in the case of a welded construction, to the
surface of the supporting part of the member, or, in the case of composite
construction, to the outer line of shear connectors.
tfo is the thickness of the outstand
y refers to the yield strength appropriate to the actual plate thickness.

If the above is not satisfied, the section is non-compact but a further limit is imposed
on how non-compact a flange may be. Unless a free edge of a plate or other
outstand in compression is stiffened, the ratio bfo/tfo should not exceed 12 355/ y .
This can be increased to 14 355/ y when the edge of the outstand is stiffened

It is possible to use a greater ratio of bfo/tfo than given above, but only if the stress in
the flange is limited to a stress less than yield such that the bfo/tfo limit is satisfied using
this stress in place of y .

Rules are also given for flanges made up of built up plates e.g. where there is a doubler
plate.

It should also be noted that clause 5.2 imposes a limit on outstand size of bfo/tfo = 20 in
general and bfo/tfo =16 for plate thicknesses of 12mm and less which applies to all
flanges whether in compression or tension. This is intended simply to prevent flimsy
flanges from getting damaged during construction.

(ii) Flanges in box beams (without longitudinal stiffeners)

To be classed as a compact section, the ratio bf/tf should not exceed 24 355/ y for
flanges between webs where:
bf is the clear width of the flange measured between root fillets for a rolled section,
between webs for welded boxes or between lines of rivets or bolts connecting it
to the web in other fabricated sections.
tf is the thickness of the flange

In composite construction when the compression flange is attached to the concrete

deck by shear connectors, a greater flange width can be accommodated as compact if
the shear studs comply with certain minimum spacings according to clause 9.3.7.3.3.

(iii) Webs in bending and compression

Webs are classified on the basis of a plastic stress block in BS5400 Part 3 2000 unlike
in the previous version of the code where an elastic stress block was used. This makes
the calculation a little more difficult where the section has an applied axial force as the
plastic stress block for bending and axial has first to be derived.

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The depth of the web should not exceed:

34 t w 355
when m does not exceed 0.5, and
m yw
374 t w 355
when m exceeds 0.5
(13m - 1) yw
where:
m is the ratio of the depth of the web plate which is on the compressive side of the
plastic neutral axis of the beam to the depth of the web plate (h1/( h1+h2) in
Figure 2)
tw is the thickness of the web plate
yw is the nominal yield stress of the web material.

The depth of the web referred to in this clause should be measured in its plane and
taken clear of root fillets for rolled sections and welds or flange angles for fabricated
sections.

Notice that this value for m = 1.0 (pure compression) is slightly at odds with the
allowable limit on panel slenderness b/t for S355 steel of 24 in clause 9.11.4 (31 is
obtained from above).

tension
h2

Plastic
neutral axis
h1
compression

Figure 2 - Definition of m = h1/(h1 + h2) for check of compactness

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2. EFFECTIVE SECTION FOR STRESS ANALYSIS (CLAUSE 9.4)

Discussions in this section exclude beams with longitudinal stiffeners.

(i) Effective tension flange

The effective area of a tension flange should be taken as the net area after allowance
for any holes in accordance with 11.3.3 and for shear lag in accordance with 9.4.2.2.
The net area should be taken as the gross area within the effective breadth multiplied
by At/A
where:
At is as defined in 11.3.3
Ais the gross area of the whole flange.
In the absence of shear lag (which will be the case for normal composite beams) the
effective area is simply the net area, At. The reason why the increase in effective area
for strain hardening permitted in 11.3.2 for tension members is not allowed here is not
known by the author. It may be due to the compatibility of having large plastic
straining in the flange (due to the holes) when the web is undergoing lower strain (due
to the absence of holes). EC3 allows strain hardening to be considered.

(ii) Effective compression flange

The effective area of a compression flange should be taken as the effective net areas of
plating with allowance for shear lag if required. Shear lag need only be considered at
SLS.

In the absence of shear lag, the effective area should be taken as:

Ae = Kc(khAc) is the sum of the effective net areas of the component parts of the
flange or plates in compression
Kc is taken as 1.0 for all outstands which meet the shape limits of clause 9.3.2 or
as a coefficient, to be determined from figure 5, for unstiffened flanges in box
beams.
When using Figure 5, Kc is taken from from curve 1 for panels with bolted or
riveted connections to the boundaries or curve 2 for rolled sections or panels
in welded construction. In both cases, curve 3 may be used if it gives a
greater effective width but the panel will have to be much shorter than it is
wide (less than half the width) for there to be any benefit from this.
kh = 1.0 for a section free from holes or for a section with one or more holes
greater than 40 mm in diameter, or 1.2 for a section in which holes do not
exceed 40 mm in diameter, provided that k h Ac in no case exceeds the gross
cross sectional area of the component part
Ac is the net area of each component part, equal to its gross area, less a deduction
across a section perpendicular to the longitudinal axis for open holes or
clearance holes for pins, black bolts or countersunk bolts. Holes filled with

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rivets, HSFG bolts, close tolerance or turned barrel bolts, or fully filled
plugged holes need not be deducted

(iii) Effective web

If the web is made very slender then local buckling can prevent the attainment of yield
in the compression zone. This is accounted for by making a reduction to the effective
thickness of the web (using clause 9.4.2.5) and allowing the reduced section to be
taken up to yield. This effectively allows load shedding from the web to the flanges
once web buckling occurs.

If the web is non-compact, it is necessary to check whether the effective web thickness
is less than the full thickness. To do this, the elastic stress distribution is first
determined on the gross web and this distribution is used to determine the effective
web using 9.4.2.5.

(iv) Procedure for deriving section class and effective section for I girder bending
analysis

For each stage of construction the following steps are performed:

Step 1: Check any non-composite flange for compactness. Compact for bfo/tfo
7 355/ y .

Step 2: Check flange not outside allowable shape limits. bfo/tfo 12 355/ y for
unstiffened compression flanges, bfo/tfo 20 for tension flanges in general but
bfo/tfo 16 for plate thicknesses of 12mm and less.

Step 3: Check web for compactness.

Step 4: Overall section class is non-compact if either web or flange non-compact,

otherwise section is compact.

Step 5: If web non-compact, check if effective thickness needs to be made using

9.4.2.5

Step 6: Check for reduction to flanges if any bolt holes present using 9.4.2.

3. MOMENT CAPACITY FOR BEAMS WITHOUT LTB (CLAUSE

9.9.1)

Discussions in this section do not cover beams with longitudinal stiffeners or beams
curved in elevation.

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Compact sections

The plastic section capacity can be achieved in bending such that:

M pe
MD =
m f3

Mpe is the plastic moment of resistance of the effective cross section based on
rectangular stress blocks of intensity equal to the strength of the elements. In the case
of elements in structural steel, the strength should be taken as the thickness-dependent
nominal yield stress of the elements. In the case of concrete flanges in compression,
the area of reinforcement should be ignored and the strength should be taken as
0.4fcum. In the case of concrete flanges in tension the area of concrete should be
ignored and the strength of the reinforcement taken as 0.87fym. Mpe is found from the
stress blocks in Figures 3 and 4 by first calculating the position of the equal force axis
by balancing forces and then taking moments about this axis. For the sagging case,
note that if the equal force axis occurs in the concrete, there will be some residual
depth of concrete in tension which must be ignored. Some designers prefer to
calculate a plastic capacity including m directly to avoid the odd strengths above it
looks odd to have the material factor for structural steel applied to concrete and
reinforcement. If this is done, the relevant strengths are 0.4fcu, 0.87fy and y / m for
concrete, reinforcement and steel respectively. M D is then obtained by dividing the
resulting plastic moment by f 3 .

For composite beams, the total moment acting on the beam can be applied to the cross
section at that stage, irrespective of the build up of moment and the cross section to
which it was applied (clause 9.9.5.2). The accumulated elastic stress built up on the
changing cross section must however also be checked against yield at the serviceability
limit state.

0.87fym

Equal force
axis

Figure 3 Typical plastic stress block for hogging Mpe

0.4fcum

Equal force
axis

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Figure 4 Typical plastic stress block for sagging Mpe

NOTE: The yield value may differ for the different plates due to the thickness effect in
clause 6.2. If this is the case, either the minimum yield stress can be used throughout
or the stress blocks above varied to have varying yield.

Non-compact sections

The stresses at the extreme fibres (and top and bottom of the webs) determined from
an elastic stress distribution are limited to the appropriate yield values.

For composite beams, the stress must be built up from the loads acting on the changing
beam cross section throughout construction and the summation of these stresses
limited to factored yield (clause 9.9.5.4). Stresses in reinforcement and concrete
should similarly be limited to their design values.

Mixed class design

Some care should be taken with mixing section classes within a bridge when elastic
analysis is used. For example, if a mid-span section of a continuous bridge is designed
in bending as compact and the section at an internal support is non-compact, then the
non-compact section may become overstressed due to the elastic moments shed from
mid-span while the plastic section resistance develops there and stiffness is lost. This is
illustrated in Figure 5. This has rarely been found to be a problem as the load cases
producing maximum moment at mid-span and at a support rarely coexist except where
adjacent spans are very short compared to the span considered. To safeguard against
this problem, EC4 includes a rule whereby the moment at a compact section should not
exceed 90% of its plastic bending capacity when there are adjacent non-compact
sections with a bending moment of the opposite sign, unless account is taken of the
redistribution of moments to the adjacent sections due to inelastic behaviour.

If redistribution is to be checked, a conservative method is illustrated in Figure 6. In

this example, a compact section is at mid-span of the middle span and the support
sections are non-compact. A simplified load case is shown to produce maximum
sagging moment. Elastic analysis is used up to a fraction of the entire applied load
such that first yield of the compact section is reached. The remaining fraction (1- ) of
the load is then applied to a model with a hinge placed at the yielded location and the
resulting moments added to those from the first part of the analysis. The resistances of
the non-compact sections at the adjacent supports would then be checked for this total
moment. It will often not actually be necessary to carry out such an analysis as it will
often be possible simply to redistribute the moments by lifting the elastic moment
diagram so that the first yield moment is not exceeded at the compact section and
Moments
checking that the elastic resistance moments is not exceeded atfrom
the real non-linear
support.
behaviour including loss of mid-span
stiffness when yield moment reached at
mid-span
(i) Hogging

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Figure 5 Effect of mixed class section design

P (1-)P

First yield moment at

Class 1 or 2 section

Figure 6 Illustration of determination of total moment at supports due to

shedding from mid-span class 2 section

Worked Example 1: Classification and moment resistance of composite beam in

hogging zone

A composite beam in a hogging zone has the cross section and reinforcement shown in
Figure 7. The moments and shears for the section between pier and brace are also
shown diagrammatically. The moment at the pier is built up at ULS as follows:
Steel only = -5280kNm
Composite long = -3500kNm
Composite short = -7800kNm
Shrinkage secondary = -1520kNm
The steel is S355 and the reinforcement is Grade 460. The length from pier bracing to
the first span brace (both fully rigid) is 9.25m. Determine:
(i) the section classification
(ii) the plastic moment of resistance Mpe
(iii) the effective section properties for the cracked section for bending analysis
(iv) the adequacy of the beam in bending, assuming the beam is stable against LTB
this will be checked next session.

(i) Compactness
The plastic properties are determined first as below. For simplicity, the steel yield
stress of 335MPa has been based on that for the thickest plate but the values applicable
to each component could have been used. A spreadsheet method is as follows, but see
the hand calculation method below it for a more transparent method:

COMPONENT DEPTH WIDTH AREA HEIGHT fy FORCE MOMENT FOR NA MOMENT FOR NA

(mm) (mm) (mm) CENTROID (Nmm-2) (N) IN WEB (Nmm) IN FLANGE (Nmm)

UPPER REBAR - - 10308.35 2192.5 1.15 460 4.123E+06 3.283E+09 3.283E+09

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LOWER REBAR - - 10308.35 2092.5 1.15 460 4.123E+06 2.871E+09 2.871E+09

TOP FLANGE 40 500 20000 1970 1.05 335 6.381E+06 3.661E+09 5.259E+10

WEB 1900 20 38000 1000 1.05 335 1.212E+07 6.760E+09 4.803E+09

BOTTOM FLANGE 50 600 30000 25 1.05 335 9.571E+06 1.312E+10 1.312E+10

TOTAL = 2.970E+10

IGNORE N.A IN WEB

FRACTION IN
COMP 1.55 0.29

N.A HT 1927.85 1396.20

PLASTIC N.A HEIGHT FROM

SOFFIT (mm) = 1396.20

PLASTIC MOMENT CAPACITY

(KNm) = 29700.69

A hand calculation for the above can also be done simply. The material strengths are
taken as 0.87fy and y / m for reinforcement and steel respectively. Guessing that the
equal force axis is in the web, the equal force axis depth x is found from:
10308.35 2 460 / 1.15 500 40 20 x 335 / 1.05
600 50 20 1900 x 335 / 1.05 for which x = 553.8mm, which confirms
that the plastic neutral axis is in the web.
The height of the plastic neutral axis is therefore 1950 553.8 = 1396.2mm
The bending resistance, including material factors, is obtained by taking moments
about the plastic neutral axis thus:
10308.35 460 796.3 696.3 500 40 573.8 600 50 1371.2 335
M plastic
1.15 1.05

553.8 20 0.5 1900 553.8 20 0.5 335
2 2
29701kNm

1.05
Following the definitions in Part 3, the nominal plastic moment resistance without
material factors = M pe 29701 1.05 31186 kNm
(This would have been obtained directly from the above moment calculations if the
strength of the reinforcement had been taken as 0.87 f y m and the steel strength as
y as suggested in BS5400 Part 3).
Check web compactness:
Depth of web in compression = 1396.2 50 = 1346.2mm
Proportion of web in compression, m 1346 / 1900 0.71
374 t w 355
Allowable depth of web = =
(13m - 1) yw
374 20 355
922mm 1900mm
(13 0.71 - 1) 345
The web is non-compact.
Check bottom flange shape limits - top one is restrained by deck slab.
bf 0 355 290 355
6.0 7 so bottom flange is compact
tf0 yw 50 335
Overall section is non-compact.

(ii) Plastic moment of resistance

The plastic moment of resistance was found above and is

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M pe M plastic m 29701 1.05 31186kNm , although this resistance may not be

used in design as the section was non-compact.

(iii) Effective section properties for cracked section

For bending design, elastic properties will be required as the section is non-compact.
The spreadsheet below was used. The area of the reinforcement has been transformed
to structural steel by multiplying by the E ratio of 200/205.

COMPONENT HT WIDTH A Y AY AY^2 I

BOT FLANGE 50 600 30000 25 7.50E+05 1.88E+07 6.25E+06

WEB 1900 20 38000 1000 3.80E+07 3.80E+10 1.14E+10

TOP FLANGE 40 500 20000 1970 3.94E+07 7.76E+10 2.67E+06

10056.927
REBAR 7 2192.5 2.20E+07 4.83E+10 0.00E+00
10056.927
REBAR 7 2092.5 2.10E+07 4.40E+10 0.00E+00
108113.85
54 1.21E+08 2.08E+11 1.14E+10

CENTROID= 1121.45 mm

INERTIA= 8.349E+10 mm4

Ztop 9.612E+07 mm3

Zrebar 7.795E+07 mm3

Zbot 7.445E+07 mm3

The section modulii for top and bottom flange of the steel only case are similarly found
to be 5.23E7 mm3 and 6.49E7 mm3.

As the web is non-compact, it is necessary to check whether it is sufficiently slender to

require the use of a reduced effective thickness.
The depth of web in compression, y c 1121 50 1071mm .
y c yw 1071 345
52.8 68 so no reduction need be made to the web and the
tw 355 20 355
section properties above can be used.
(Note that this analysis assumes that the entire load was applied to the composite
section. In reality, some of the load would be applied to the bare steel so the actual
stress distribution should be built up on the gross section in order to do this check.
However, as the neutral axis will be higher if based solely on the composite section,
this check is therefore conservative).

(iv) Check of beam in bending

Since the section is non-compact, a check must be made of accumulated stress. A
check of LTB is also required and this is made in the next section.
Accumulated stress:
5280 3500 7800 1520
Top flange stress = 234MPa
52.3 96.1

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5280 3500 7800 1520

Bottom flange stress = 254 MPa
64.9 74.4
335
290MPa so both OK.
1.1 1.05
3500 7800 1520 200 161MPa
Reinforcement stress = so OK.
77.9 205

3200
72.5

250

21No. T25 per 77.5

25
x layer
500 x 40
Equal
force axis
1900 x 20

600 x 50

M = -18100kNm, V = 2200kN
M = 490kNm, V = 1840kN

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= bracing location
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Figure 7 Beam for worked example 1

Worked Example 2: Classification and moment resistance of composite beam

A composite beam in a sagging zone has the cross section shown in Figure 8. The steel
is S355 and the concrete is Grade 40. Determine:
(i) the section classification
(ii) the design bending capacity
(i) Compactness

By inspection, the top flange is compact as it is attached to the deck slab. The bottom
flange is in tension, so only the robustness limit of bfo/tfo < 20 need be satisfied, which
it is.

The plastic properties are next determined as below. For simplicity, the steel yield
stress of 335MPa has been based on that for the thickest plate but the values applicable
to each component could have been used.

A spreadsheet method to determine the plastic N.A. is as follows, but see the hand
calculation method below it for a more transparent method:

COMPONENT DEPTH WIDTH AREA HEIGHT fy FORCE MOMENT FOR NA MOMENT FOR NA

(mm) (mm) (mm2) CENTROID (Nmm-2) (N) IN WEB (Nmm) IN FLANGE (Nmm)

800000.0
SLAB - - 0 1350 2.5 40 1.280E+07 2.166E+09 2.166E+09

HAUNCH - - 12500.00 1212.5 2.5 40 2.000E+05 6.351E+06 6.351E+06

TOP FLANGE 30 500 15000 1185 1.05 335 4.786E+06 2.036E+07 3.878E+07

WEB 1125 16 18000 607.5 1.05 335 5.743E+06 3.293E+09 3.292E+09

BOTTOM FLANGE 45 600 27000 22.5 1.05 335 8.614E+06 9.977E+09 9.977E+09

TOTAL = 1.548E+10

N.A IN TOP FLANGE IGNORE

FRACTION IN
COMP 0.64 -0.30

N.A HT 1180.75 1505.82

PLASTIC N.A HEIGHT FROM

SOFFIT (mm) = 1180.75

PLASTIC MOMENT CAPACITY

(KNm) = 15481.11

The gamma factor for concrete of 2.5 above is 1/0.4.

A hand calculation for the above can also be done simply. The relevant strengths are

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0.4fcu and y / m for concrete and steel respectively. Guessing that the equal force
axis is in the top flange, the equal force axis depth x is found from:
3200 250 0.4 40 500 25 0.4 40 500 x 335 / 1.05
600 45 1125 16 500 30 x 335 / 1.05 for which x = 19.25mm, which
confirms that the plastic neutral axis is in the flange.
The height of the plastic neutral axis is therefore 1200 19.25 = 1180.75mm.
Since the web is entirely in tension, the section is compact.

(ii) Bending resistance

The bending resistance, including material factors, is obtained by taking moments

about the plastic neutral axis thus:
M plastic 3200 250 1350 1180 .75 500 25 1212.5 1180 .75 0.4 40

500 19.25 2

/ 2 500 11 .75 2 / 2 335
1.05

1125 16 1180 .75 607.5 600 45 1180 .75 22.5 335 15483kNm
1.05
Following the definitions in Part 3, the nominal plastic moment resistance without
material factors = M pe 15483 1.05 16257kNm
The design resistance moment is therefore:
M pe 16257
MD = 14075kNm
m f 3 1.05 1.1

Note that a check of SLS stresses would be required here if the beam was designed as
compact.

3200

250

25 Equal force axis x

500 x 30

1125 x 16

600 x 45

Figure 8 Beam for worked example 2

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