ENCE 710

Design of Steel Structures

VI. Plate Girders
C. C. Fu, Ph.D., P.E.
Civil and Environmental Engineering Department
University of Maryland
 Introduction
Following subjects are covered:
 Moment strength

 Shear strength
 Intermediate transverse stiffener
 Bearing stiffener

Reading:
 Chapters 11 of Salmon & Johnson

 AISC LRFD Specification Chapters B (Design

Requirements) and F (Design of Members for
Flexure) and G (Design of Members for Shear)
2
Typical Plate Girders

3
AISC
Limiting
Ratios

4
AISC Design of Members for Flexure
(about Major Axis)

5
 Beam vs
Plate Girder
Plate Girder: A deep beam

“Slender” web problems:

1.Web buckling
2. Buckling of the compression
flange due to inadequate
stiffness of the web
3. Buckling due to shear

(for doubly symmetric I-shaped sections) 6

Vertical Buckling
(the compression flange)

(a) Lateral buckling

(b) Torsional buckling
(c) Vertical buckling
7
 AISC Maximum Web h/tw
 Stiffened girder (for a/h ≤ 1.5)
h/tw = 11.7 √E/Fy (AISC-F13.3)

 Stiffened girder (for a/h > 1.5)

h/tw ≤ 0.42E/Fy (AISC-F13.4)

(S & J Table 11.3.1)

 Unstiffened girder h/tw ≤ 260
8
 AISC Nominal Moment Strength
 If h/tw ≤ 5.70√E/Fy – AISC Table B4.1 treated as rolled beams
 If h/tw > 5.70√E/Fy
 Case 1 – Compression flange yielding
Mn = RpgFySxc (F5-1)
 Case 2 – Lateral-Torsional Buckling
Mn = RpgFcrSxc   Lb  L p  (F5-2)
(a) Lp < Lb ≤ Lr Fcr  Cb  Fy  0.3Fy     Fy (F5-3)
 L  L 
  r p 

(b) L b > Lr Cb 2 E E (F5-4, 5, 6)
Fcr  Lr  rt
2 0.7 Fy
 Lb 
  rt 
b fc
 rt  12(1  a w / 6

aw  hc E  (for WLB)
R pg  1   5.70  1
1200  300a w tw Fy 

aw = ratio of web area to compression flange area ( ≤10)
hc = 2 x centroid to inside face of the compression flange 9
AISC Nominal Moment Strength
(cont.)
 Case 3 - Compression flange local buckling
Mn = RpgFcrSxc (F5-7)
Fcr a. λ ≤ λp: Fcr = Fy
b. λ p < λ ≤ λr :
     pf 
Fcr   Fy  0.3Fy   (F5-8)
   
 rf pf 
c. λ > λr : 0.9k c (F5-9)
Fcr  2
 bf 
 
 2t 
 f 
kc = 4/√(h/tw) and 0.35 ≤ kc ≤ 0.763
 Case 4 – Tension-flange yielding (Sxt<Sxc)
Mn = RptFySxt (F5-10)

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Limit States
in Flexure

for plate girder

with slender web
(AISC-F5)

11
Comparison of LTB
(AISC-F5 with AISC-F2)

12
Classical Shear Theory
(applied to plate girder web panel)

13
Intermediate Stiffener Spacing

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 AISC Nominal Shear Strength
 If h/tw ≤ 1.10 √(kvE/Fy) -

Vn = 0.6 AwFy same as rolled beam (G3-1)

 
 If h/tw > 1.10 √(kvE/Fy)  
 1  Cv 
Vn  0.6 Aw Fyw  Cv  
 
2
a
 1.15 1     (G3-2)
 h 

(S & J Figs. 11.8.1 & 11.8.2)

Except (1) end panel
(2) a/h > 3 or a/h > [260/(h/tw)]2

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AISC Nominal Shear Strength
(cont.)
 For 1.10 √(kvE/Fy) ≤ h/tw ≤ 1.37 √(kvE/Fy)

Cv = 1.10 √(kvE/Fy) / (h/tw) (G2-4)

 For h/tw > 1.37 √(kvE/Fy)

Cv = 1.51 kvE/[(h/tw)2Fy] (G2-5)

kv = 5 + 5/(a/h)2 if a/h ≤ 3 and [260/(h/tw)]2

5 otherwise

(S & J Fig. 11.8.3)

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 Shear Capacity Available

Figure 11.8.1 Shear capacity available, considering post-buckling strength.

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 Tension-Field Action.

Figure 11.8.2 Tension-field action.

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Buckling of Plate Girder Web

Figure 11.7.3 Buckling

of plate girder web
resulting from shear
alone—AISC-G2

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Forces from Tension-Field

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Force in Stiffener
(resulting from tension-field action)

21
State of Stress

22
Intermediate Transverse Stiffeners
(at nominal shear strength Vn including tension-field action)

23
Shear and Moment Strengths
(under combined bending and shear)

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 Intermediate Transverse Stiffeners
Intermediate Transverse Stiffener
(not required if h/tw ≤ 2.45√E/Fy)
(1) Stiffness Criterion
 Ist ≥ jatw3 (G2-6)
where j = 2.5/(a/h)2 – 2 ≥ 0.5
(2) Strength Criterion
 Ast > Fy/Fyst (0.15 Dshtw (1 – Cv) Vu/ΦvVn – 18 tw2)≤0
(G3-3)

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Intermediate Transverse Stiffener
connection to flange

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Bearing Stiffener
(effective cross-sections)

27
Bearing Stiffener
Bearing Stiffener ΦRn ≥ Ru
(1) Bearing Criterion (LRFD – J8.1)
Φ = 0.75
Rn= 1.8 FyApb
(2) Column Stability Criterion
KL/r = 0.75 h/r where r of 12 tw or 25tw
ΦcFcr = LRFD Table 3-36
Reqd. Ast = Ru/ΦcFcr → Reqd. t
(3) Local Buckling Criterion
(AISC 13th Edition Table B4.1 Case 3)
Min. t = w/(0.56/√E/Fy)
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Effect of Longitudinal Stiffener
on plate girder web stability

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Example –
Girder loading and support for design

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 Example -

Factored moment and

factored shear
envelopes for two-span
continuous beam of
illustrative example

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Example - Design Sketch

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