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Stability of Castellated Beam Webs
Stability of Castellated Beam Webs
Sevak Demirdjian
March 1999
McGill University
Montreal, Canada
O Sevak Demirdjian
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lectronique.
Both elastic and plastic methods of anaiysis are utilized to predict the faiiure modes of
these beams.
horizontal weld length and etastic bucfling anaiysis using the finite element method are
correlated with a number of experimentai test results fiom previous studies given in the
literature.
Test-to-predicted ratios for a total of 42 test beams ranging from 45" to 60" openings are
computed with the plastic and elastic methods of anaiysis, and a mean of 1.086 and
coefficient of variation of 0.195 are obtained. A parameter study covenng a wide range of
60" castellated bearn geomevies is perfonned to derive elastic buckling coefficients under
pure shear and bending forces. An elastic buckling interaction diagram is then defined.
which along with the diagrarns utilized in the plastic analysis, can be used to predict the
elastic buckling and plastic failure loads under any given moment-to-shear ratio.
To incorporate the effect of plasticity associated with buckling, expressions are derived to
improve the previous theoretical models used, by cornbining both elastic and plastic
predicted ratios for the 60' beams considered from 0.170 to 0.137.
RI~SUM
Dans la cadre de la prsente thse. une tude sur le voilement de l'me des poutres
Les charges estimes par les diagrammes d'interaction pour la formation d'un mcanisme
voilement de l'me prdit par analyse par lment finis. sont compares aux rsultats des
Les rapports entre les rsultats exprimentaux pour 42 poutres avec 45' 60'
d'ouvertures et les prdictions par les mthodes d'analyse de plasticit et d'lasticit ont
obtenues. Une tude paramtrique sur les coefficients de voilement lastique de l'me a
t effectue pour des charges en cisaillement pur et en flexion. pour un grand nombre de
avec les diagrammes pour la formation d'un mcanisme de rupture pour estimer la force
L'effet de la plasticit lors du voilement de l ' h e est ensuite inclus dans les expressions
thoriques. Cette addition rduit l'cart-type de 0.170 0.137 sur les prdictions
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Prof. R.G. Redwood for his constant
Sprcial thanks are due to Prof. G. McClure for al1 her help throughout the course ot'this
project. and to al1 her guidance and advising throughout my graduate level studies.
acknowledged.
1 uould like to thank my parents Krikor and Alice, and my brother H m 9 for their intnite
support and encouragement for al1 these years. Finally 1 would like to acknowledge my
uncle Joseph Bedrossian. for his valuable knowledge and help for man- yerirs.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ......................................-....--................................................... i
..
RSUM ................................................................................................
...
A C WOWLEDGMENTS ....................................................................... iii
NOTATIONS .................................-...........................................................x
1 . 1 Introduction .................................................................................... 1
3- l General ......................................................................................... 35
REFEWNCES......................................................................................... 87
ixurmwm
Figure 1.1 Castellated Beams ..................................................................... 1
cHAmmnw
Figure 2.1 Interaction Diagram .................................................................. 18
Figure 2.4 (a) Mode1 used By Zaarour and Redwood (1 996) .................... 26
-
Figure 2.5 Finite Element Mode1 .............................................................. -30
- 3
>J
.
Figure 5.1 Two Hole FEM Model Under Vertical Loads Only ................. 64
Figure 5.2 Three Hole FEM Model Under Pure Shear Forces .................. 65
Figure 5.3 Three Hole FEM Model Under Pure Bending Moments .........66
...,....
Figure 5 -6 Husain and Speirs ( 1973) ....................... .................. 71
Figure 5.1 1 Buckling Coefficient Curves Under Pure Bending Forces ....- 7 9
-
cKMnEmm
Table 4.1 Surnmary of Test to Theoretical Predictions ............................. 38
Ar area of flange
br width of flange
C compression force
E modulus of elasticity
F, yield stress
G stiffiiess matrix
ho height of hole
h, height of plate
moment of inertia
buckling coeffkient
length of beam
bending moment
critical moment
plastic moment
yield moment
ultimate moment
constant force
tension force
displacement vector
modified displacement vector
Shear force
critical value of Vh
plastic shear
applied load
angle of castellation
critical stress
expansion ratio
sii
factor appiied to shear y ield stress
eigen value
eigen vector
poisson's ratio
aspect ratio
CHAPTER ONE
1. I Introduction
Sincc rht. Second World L\.*ar. man>-attcmpts ha\-e been made b' structural enyineers w
: i d ne\\ ways to dccreass the cost of steel structures. Eue to limitations on mrisimum
utilized to best adwxage. .As 3 result. se\.ernl ne\! rne~l-iodsha\.e been airned .IL
incrcnsing the stiffncss of steel mcmbers w-ithout an)- increasri in iteiylir O&' the steel
section is cut by flarne along the horizontal x-x avis along a "zigzag" pattern as shown in
Fig. 1.2.
The two halves are then welded together to produce a beam of greater depth with
hexagonal openings in the web (Fig. 1.3), or rectangular plates may be inserted between
the two parts. producing octagonal holes (Fig. 1.4). The resulting beam has a Iarger
section modulus and greater bending rigidity than the original section. without an
increase in weight. However, the presence of the holes in the web will change the
structural behavior of the beam from that of plain webbed beams. Experirnental tests on
castellated beams have shown that beam slenderness. castelhtion parameters and the
loading type are the main parameters, which dictate the strength and modes of failure of
these beams.
Casteilated bearns have been used in constmction for many years. Today. with the
developrnent of automated cutting and welding equipment. these beams are produced in
an alrnost unlimited number of depths and spans. suitable for both light and heavy
loading conditions. In the past. the cutting angle of castellated beams ranged from 45" to
70 but currently, 60" has become a fairly standard cuning angle. although 45" sections
are also available. It should be noted that these are approxirnate values. actuai angles will
vary slightly from these to accommodate other geometrical requirements. As roof or floor
beams. joists. or purlins, these sections may replace solid sections or tmss members.
Their aesthetic attributes produce an attractive architectural design feature for stores,
schools and service buiidings. In structures with ceilings. the web openings of thesc
members provide a passage for easy routing and installation of utilities and air
conditioning ducts.
4
Expansion ratio, y = -
d
h = depth of cut
h, = height of plate
I - 4 v
Figure 1.1 Castellated beam section properties with plate rit mid depth
1.2 Failure Modes of Castellated Beams
To date, experimental studies on castellated beams have reported six different modes of
failure (Kerdal & Nethercot 1984). These modes are closely associated with beam
geornetry. web slendemess, hole opening, type of loading, and provision of lateral
supports. Under given applied transverse or coupling forces, failure is Iikely to occur by
one the following modes: Vierendeel or shear mechanism. flexurai mechanism. lateral
torsional buckling, rupture of welded joints, web post buckling in shear and compression
buckling.
This mode of failure is associated with high shear forces acting on the beam. Formation
of plastic hinges at the reentrant corners of the holes deforms the tee section above the
openings to a parailelogram shape (Fig. 1.5). This mode o f failure was first reported in
the works of Altifillisch (1957), and Toprac and Cook (1959). Bearns with relatively
short spans with shdlow tee sections and longer weId lengths are susceptible to this mode
of failure. Shorter spans can carry higher loads leading to shear becoming the goveming
loac!. When a castellated beam is subjected to shear, the tee sections above and below the
openings must carry the applied shear, as well as the pnmary and secondary moments.
The primary moment is the conventional bending moment on the beam cross-section. The
secondary moment, also known as the Vierendeel moment. results from the action of
shear force in the tee sections over the horizontal length of the opening. Therefore. as the
horizontal length of the opening decreases, the magnitude of the secondary moment will
decrease. The location of this failure will occur at the opening under greatest shearing
force. or if several openings are subjected to the s m e maximum shear. then the one with
Plastic Hinges
Under pure bending. provided the section is compact (at lsast Class 2 (CSA 1991)). the
tee sections above and below the openings yield in tension and compression until thty
becomc fully plastic. This mode of failure was reported in the lcorks ot'Toprric and Cook
( 1 959) and Halleux (1967). They conciuded that yieiding in the tee sectioris ribo\.c. and
bclow the openings of a castellated beam was similar to that of a solid beam under pure
bendiny forces. Thus. the maximum in-plane carrying capacity of a castellatrd beam
under pure moment loading was determined to be = Z'xE; wliere Z' is tlie full
As in soiid web beams, out of plane movement of the b a r n without any web distonions
describes this mode of failure. Lateral torsional buckling as s h o w in Fig. 1.6. is usually
associated with longer span beams with inadequate lateral support to the compression
flange. The reduced torsionai stifiess of the web, as a result of relatively deeper and
slender section properties, conmbutes to this buckling mode. Nethercot and Kerdal
(1982) investigated this mode of failure. h e y concluded that web openings had
negligible effect on the overail lateral torsional buckling behavior of the beams they
tested. Furthemore, it was suggested that design procedures to determine the lateral
buckling strength of solid webbed bearns could be used for castellated beams provided
The mid depth weld joint of the web post between two openings rnay rupture when
horizontal shear stresses exceed the yield strength of the welded joint (Fig. 1.7). Husain
and Speirs (1971) investigated this failure mode by testing six beams with short welded
joints. This mode of failure depends upon the lengtb of the welded joint (e). The
horizontal length of the openings is equai to the weld length. and if the horizontal length
is reduced to decrease secondary moments. the welded throat of the web-post becomes
Weld Rupture
with long horizontal hole lengths (and hence long welds). On the other hand. short weld
lengths are prone to cause failure of the welded joints as the horizontal yield stress is
exceeded. Dougherty (1993) found a reasonable balance of these twvo failure modes. by
This concept has been demonstrated in many of the current available Castelite Standard
The horizontal shear force in the web-post is associated with double curvature bending
over the height of the post. As shown in Fig. 1.8, one inclined edge of the opening wili be
stressed in tension, and the opposite edge in compression and buckling will cause a
twisting effect of the web post along its height. Several cases of web post buckling have
been reported in the literature: Sherbourne (1966), Haileux (1967). Bazile and Texier
( 1968).
Many analytical studies on web post buckling have also been reported to predict the web-
post buckling load due to shearing force. Based on finite difference approximation for an
graphical design approximations for a wide range of beam and hole geometries; sorne
estimations were found in the works of Zaarour and Redwood (1996). Delesque ( 1968)
used an energy method to solve an elastic buckling problem by treating the wsb post as a
torsional buckling. However. Zaarour and Redwood (1 996) found large differences in the
results obtained frorn Blodgett's method in cornparison to their test results and finite
element approximations they used. Blodgett's method is therefore not used in this project.
were derived based on elastic finite eiement analysis and good correlations btmveen
experimental and theoreticai estimations were found. This work showed that the results of
Aglan and Redwood ( 1976) should not be used for very thin webs. This mode of failure
and these theoretical results are discussed in greater detail in subsequent chapters.
Fig. 1.8 U'eb Post Buckling (Redwood rP: Demirdjian 1998 >
1.2.6 Web Post Buckling Due to Compression
A concentrated load or a reaction point applied directly over a web-post causes this
failure mode. This mode was reported in the expenrnents conducted by Toprac and Cook
(1959). Husain and Speirs (1973). Buckling of the web post under large compression
forces is not accornpanied by twisting of the post. as it would be under shearing force.
Such a failure mode could be prevented if adequate web reinforcing stiffeners are
provided. A strut approach was proposed in the works of (Dougherty 1993). which
suggests that standard column equations could be used to determine the strength of the
panicular emphasis on web post buckiing. The goal is to make use of the availabie elastic
and plastic analysis methods. and derive expressions that will predict critical shear force
This thesis uses many previous experimental results to provide cornparisons \\-ith
T h e first part of the research program focuses on the theoretical methods of analysis to be
used to predict failure loads of castellated beams. These methods include plastic analysis
of the Vierendeel mechanism and for yielding of the mid-post joints. The finite element
method is used to perform elastic buckling analysis and predict critical loads of al1 test
beams. A thorough literature search then follows to list al1 relevant experimental data to
Thc second part of' the thesis tocuses on general design considerations and thus is aimed
at the principal objective of the research. Elastic buckling modes are investigated under
and pure bending forces to cause web buckling. are developed to predict eiastic buckling
loads under an' M N ratios. Results of elastic buckling and mechanism yielding loads are
then combined and fitted curves are derived to predict ultimate shearing forces causins
web-post buckiing. To apply these expressions in a more general fashion. a parametric
developed. and buckiing coefficients under pure shear and bending forces are derived.
Sugested predictions are then tested against actual test results, and good correlations are
obtained.
The thesis is divided into six sections. M e r a bnef introduction to castellated beams and
testing and available in the Merature. Relevant information on each test beam is
experimental test beams, and reconciliation of analysis with test results is the topic
covered in Chapter 4.
elastic buckling under any M N ratio are developed. A parametric study. as welI as
expressions estimating shear force causing buckling are derived. Results of suggested
methods are tested against actual experimental test results, and correlations between tests
METHODS OF ANALYSE
2.1 General
Several theoretical approaches are considered to analyze the yielding and buckling fidure
modes of castellated bearns. Plastic anaiysis of the Vierendeel mechanism failure, ris rvell
as anaiysis of mid web post yielding are sumrnaiized. Elastic finite element buckiing
analysis is used to predict buckling loads. Finite element mode1 generation as well as
buc kling analysis in the MSCMASTRAN finite element package are described.
The construction of an interaction diagram relating shear force and bending moment at
mid-length of an opening has been described by Redwood (1983). This diagram can be
used to study failure caused by the formation of a Vierendeel mechanisrn formed by the
development of four plastic hinges at the re-entrant comers of the tee section. above and
below the hole. For the beam to anain this plastic failure, the web and flanges are
assumed CO be stable and withstand the high shear load until plastic hinges are fonned at
the reentrant corners of an opening in high shear region. As the load increases, primary
and secondary stresses resulting fiom combined effect of shear and moment forces lead to
complete yield at the four corners thus forming plastic hinges. This analysis is based on
the assurnption of perfectly plastic matenal behavior with yielding according to Von
Mises criterion. A typical interaction dia- is shown in Fig. 2.1. The shear and
moment values have been non-dirnensionalized by division of the section's ti1y plastic
A, I;Y
Where shear area A, = dg&.
v =JS
To generate the curve, k, is varied between O and 1. Below the value 1. the curve
becomes vertical. For given beam characteristics and hole location subjected to a load. a
radial line can be drawn fiom the origin to intercept the interaction diagram for the
the intercepted point then predict the shear and moment values to cause yield nlechanism
failure.
Interaction Diramm
Specimen 10-5a
I
j -YieidTheory
A Test Resuit
It is possible for yielding of the web-pst at mid-height to occur before failure due to
formation of shear mechanism takes place. This mode of failure occurs particularly to
beams with closely spaced openings with low moment-to-shear ratio. The vertical shear
and the basic approach to define this relationship (Hosain and Speirs 1971 ) is derived by
using equilibrium equations from the free body diagram of castellated beam section as
- v x s
where,
- (d x - 2 y , )
,
V, is defined as the difference between the two horizontal forces C and C7,
This equation is based on the assurnption that the line of action of forces C I and C->are
The web post will yield when the minimum weld-post area is subjected to the shear yidd
Due to the maximum shear stress k i n g at the throat, the yielding is contained. and it cm
be expected that strain-hardening will develop leading to a significantly higher failure
load than that given by Eqn. 2.1. In the work of Husain and Speirs ( 197 1 ) the sliear y ield
stress has been measwed directly and is significantly higher than the expected value
based on F~ 4 3In. view of this the yield stress used, for this mode of Mure only. will be
later increased by a factor P, as discussed in Chapter 4.
V,Q
Based on a finite difference bifrcation analysis of the web post ueated as a beam
spanning between the top and bottom of the openings, graphical results relating critical
moments in the p s t to different beam opening geometries were developed by Aglan and
strain-hardening material. For different hole height to minimum width ratios. critical
moments in the post at the level of the top and bottom of the opening, divided by that
Fig. 2.3.
F0r.a given beam, the value of MJM, is first read from Fig. 2.3. By multiplying the
given ratio by the section's plastic capacity M,, as given above. the horizontal shear
Vh =
diagram of Figure 2.2, the Vfl ratio is given by - S
. Therefore. the vertical
d$y,
2 .~.l,,,(d,- 2 y , )
shear force to cause buckling in the web-pst is then derived as VL,=
~h,,
et,
where yield on the smallest web-pst cross-section -- is an imposed upper limit on
fi
V,,. In the work of Zaarour and Redwood (1996), who tested 12 castellated beams.
satisfactory predictions were obtained with the Aglan and Redwood (1976) approach.
However, in more recent work (Redwood and Demirdjian 1998). tests of very thin
webbed castellated beams showed that the graphical results such as shown in Fig. 2.3
provided unsafe predictions. a result that was believed to be due to the assumed restraint
conditions at the top and bottom of the web-pst. The method of Aglan and Redwood
O.? dt,=lO
20
O 30
Figure 2.3 Predicted Web-Post Buckling Moments for 4=60U(Aglan and R e d ~ o o d1976)
2.5 FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS
2.5.1 General
The finite element method has previously been used to pertorm buckling analyses on
castellated beams and is also used in this project. This section therefore describes the
In previous work (Zaarour and Redwood, 1996 and Megharief and Redwood, 1997) FE AM
studies of the buckling of web-posts in composite and non-composite beams were found
to give good approximations of test resuits (2-10% variations). Both studies utilized the
Corporation (Caffiey and Lee 1994). The same package is used in the current research
with the objective to utilize FEM as a reiiable tool to simulate experimental tests and
Zaarour and Redwood (1996) studied buckling of thin webbed castellated beams based on
a single web-post model, as show in Fig. 2.4(a). Mesh refmement was based on the
results. Megharief and Redwood (1997) investigated the behavior of web-post buckiing
of composite castellated beams. Their mode1 consisted of full flanges, web and transverse
stiffeners and the model comprised two complete web openings as shown in Fig. 2.4(b).
This larger model was needed in order to incorporate the shear c o ~ e c t i o nbetween steel
section and slab, and hence the composite action on the bearn. The model used in the
current research is similar to the non-composite beam mode1 utilized by Megharief and
Redwood (1997) as shown in Fig.2.4(b), however, based on the different needs in the
current work, more refmed meshes and a greater number of openings are used. as
discussed subsequently. The following sections describe the particular steps necessary to
use the MSCNASTRAN system and the details of the generation o f the models.
Fig. 2.4(a) Model used by Zaarour and Redwood ( 1996)
Elastic finite element bifurcation analysis was carried out for al1 test beams. hanalysis
Executive control. Case control and %ulkdata. SampIe input file is given in Appendix A.
Executive Control Sectioa: is the first required group of statements to detne the type of
Case Control Section: specifies a co~lectionof grid point numbers or element numbers
Bulk Data Entry: contains al1 necessary data for describing the structural model.
To prepare a detailed description of a model, the following classes of input data must be
provided:
Gromerry: locations of gnd points and the orientations of the coordinate system
co~ected.
Efement properties: definition of the thickness, and the bending properties of each
element.
A skeleton model based on a given beam geometry is first developed through defining the
x. y. and z coordinates of each grid point. Grid points are used to define the geometry of a
structure. to which finite elements are attached. Each gnd point possesses six possible
degrees of fieedom (DOF) about the x, y, and z-axes, three translations (T 1. T2. T3) and
three rotations (RI, W.R3), which constrain the grids to displace with the loaded
structure.
As the geometry of the structure is defined. the grid points are connecteci by finite
bending quadrilateral plate elements were chosen to define the finite elements of the
model. CQUAD4 element input card is defined through four grid points whose physical
location determines the length and width of the element. By assigning a material
identification number in the CQUAD4 input card. ail essential material properties.
membrane, bending, thickness, shear and coupling effects of the elements are defined in
the shell element input property card (PSHELL).Similady, linear elastic properties of the
material, modulus of elasticity, Poisson's ratio are defined in the MAT1 data entry input
2.5.4 Constrainta
Single point constraints (SPC) are used to enforce a prescribed displacement (components
and three rotational degrees of freedom. RI. R2. RX The propenies of CQUAD4
elements used in modeling the web, flanges and the stiffeners had zero normal twisiting
stiffness. One way to ensure non-singularity in the stifiess matrix and to account for the
out of plane rotational stiffhess or the sixth degree of fieedom (R3)is through AUTOSPC
and KGROT commands in the Bulk Data Entry, as recommended in the manuals. In ail
models K6ROT was taken as 10,000. This value is a fictitious number assigned to
suppress singularities associated with the normal degrees of freedom. Values of 100.
10.000 or 100,000 are recommended by the manuals, however, a value of 10.000 was
tested to provide acceptable results. Fig. 2.5 shows a typical mesh. this one comprising
two openings. The model is supported at the bottom lefi-hand corner where constraints 2
and 3 are applied; these prevent movement in the vertical and out of plane directions.
Displacements in the x and z directions at the upper and lower flange to web intersecring
nodes at the right end are restricted by constraints 1 and 3. to prevent t-igid body rotation
about the z-axis. These constraints simulate symmetry of half the span of a simply
supported beam geometry. Out of plane displacements are prevented on the perirneter of
the web.
2.5.5 Loads
Shearing forces were applied to the models by assigning two transverse (negative y
direction) loads at the right hand end, as shown in Fig. 2.5. Moment loads were applied
by applying two equal and opposite (x-direction) concentrated horizontal loads at the lefi-
iland end at the flange-to-web intersections (Fiy. 2.6). Thus sliear and moment could be
Case Control section in the input file using the SOL command with the CEND delimiter
Linear buckiing analysis is defined through SOL 105 command. Two loading conditions
must be defined in the case Control section. Subcase 1 will define the static load
condition applied to the system, and subcase 2 selects the method of eigen value
extraction method.
The equilibriurn equations for a structure subjected to a constant force may be written as
P l {u) = {Pl
where G is the stifniess rnatrix, u the displacement vector, and P the applied load vector.
To include the differential stiffbess effects, [Go] the differential stifiess matrix is
vector resulting fiom displacements under an intensity of Ioad, and fiom differentiaI
By perturbing the structure slightly at a variety of Ioad intensities, the "intensity" factor q
to create unstable equilibriurn conditions. will be the factor to c a w buckling.
(163 t r l l G ~ l ) W =) 0,
This requires the solution of an eigenvalue problern:
[G -tlG,I{v) = 0,
The solution is nontrivial. (q different fiom zero) only for specific values of q that would
The product of the first load intensity factor or the first eigenvalue q with the applied load
would give the frst buckling load of the rnodel, and the eigenvector <p, the bucicied shape.
The requirements for an eigen value solution in MSCMASTRAN are defined in the Bulk
Data Entry. By using the EIGB entry, and specifying a set identification number for the
eigenvalue extraction methods are avaiiable in the software invoked by the cornmands:
INV and S M . The S W method is an enhanced version of the iNV method. Lt uses
Snirm sequence techniques to ensure that ail roots in the specified range have k e n found.
I t is suggested that S W is a more reliable and more efficient method than the INV
method, and hence is used in al1 computations. PARAM entry is another statement used
stresses to be elastic and linearly related to strains. The two conditions were fully
satisfied.
Buckling modes resulting from the analyses were examined carefully in each case.
Unrealistic buckling modes were sometimes O btained. for example buc kling on the
tension side of the beam under pure bending. and in each such case the associated
eigenvalue was negative. and was rejected. Under pure shear. the two identical symmetric
modes were associated with positive and negative eigenvdues of almost equal magnitude,
and in some cases the negative one was msrrginally iower than the positive one. The
2.6 Summary
In this chapter the severai methods of analysis used later in this thesis have been
described. Further details, especially of the FEM applications. are described when
LITERATURE: REVIEW
3.1 General
conducted fiom which data was obtained in order to make comparisons between
experimental and theoretical results in later chapters. For each test beam, the section
properties, geometry and experimental arrangements were studied and relevant data are
Li terature. However, generally accepted design methods have not been established due to
the complexity of castellated beams and their associated modes of failure. An outline of
previous expenmental work on castellated beams is reported here with the objective of
describing only the main features of each investigation. The data and test results for the
beams described are the subject of detailed analysis in subsequent chapters of this thesis.
Four castellated beams, two identical ones with four openings 10-5(a), IO-5(b). a third
with six openings (10-6) and a fourth with eight openings (10-7), al1 with identical cross
sectional properties. were tested. The main focus of the experiment was to investigate the
buckling of the web post between holes and to study any effects of moment-to-shear ratio
on the mode of failure. Simple supports and a central single concenuated load were used
for al1 specimens. Al1 beams were provided with bearing stiffeners at support and at load
points. Mean flange and web yield stress values were obtained from tensile coupon tests.
Based on the experimental ultimate loads, except beam 10-7. which failed by lateral
torsional buckling, buckling of the web post was the observed mode of failure of al1 these
bearns. Bearn 10-7 is omitted fiom further consideration in this project, since interest is in
web buckling only. The buckling mode involved twisting of the post in opposite
directions above and below the mid-depth. Ultimate load values were given as the peak
test loads. Test conditions were then sirnulated by elastic finite element analysis. and
good predictions of the buckling loads were reported (4- 14% variations).
Fourteen castellated beams fabncated rom 8,10,12, and 14 inch light beams (Bantam
sections manufactured by Chaparral Steel Company) were tested. Six of these had 2 in.
(50.8 mm) high plates welded between the two beam halves at the web-post mid-depth.
The objective of the experiments was to study the buckling of the web post between
openings. Simple supports and a central single concentrated load were used for al1
specimens. Al1 beams were provided with bearing stiffeners at support and at Ioad points.
Average flange and web yield stresses were obtained from tensile coupon tests for each
size of beam.
The reponed ultimate strengths were based on peak load capacities of the bearns. Web
post buckling was observed in the failure of 10 cases. and in two cases. local buckling of
the tee-section above the openings subjected to greatest bending moments occurred. Two
lateral torsional buckling modes were also observed; these have been omitted tiom
further consideration shce interest is in web buckling only. FEM analysis was also used
Four castellated beams fabrcated fiom W 10x 1 5 sections ( 10 in deep. 15 pounds per foot
(see Table 3.1 for dimensions)) were tested to validate a numerical analysis approach to
determine the optimum expansion ratio based on both elastic and plastic methods of
analysis. Al1 beams were simply supported and were subjected to a concentrated load at
mid-span. The span and weld lengths were kept constant, but the depths were varied
based on different expansion ratios. Ultimate loads were recorded. but no further
Bearns fabricated fiom twelve 10%15 beams (alternative designation for W 1OX i 5 ) were
tested to investigate the effect of hole geometry on the mode of failure and ultimate
strength of castellated beams. Specimens A-2, B-1, C and D were subjected to two
concentrated point loads, and the rest of the beams had a single concentrated load at mid-
span. Al1 beams were simply supponed and adequate lateral bracing and full depth
bearing stiffeners were provided (except for beams C and D where partial depth stiffeners
were used). The loads were based on the ultirnate load values obtained during the
experiments.
Specimens A-1, A-2, and B-3, failed by the formation of plastic hinges at the re-entrant
corners of the opening where both shear and moment forces are acting. As for Specimens
G- 1. G-2, with flanges of Canadian Standard S 16.1-94 class 1 section properties. and G-
3, a class 2 section, yielding of the flanges in the region of high bending moment iead to
flexural failure. The class section properties were calculated for some beams in an
anempt to investigzte if any local buckiing possibilities were present. Bearns 8-2, C, and
D failed prematurely due to web buckling directly under the point of load application.
Similar failure was exhibited by Beam B-1 that failed by web buckling under the
concentrated load before a Vierendeel mechanism had fonned. hus, beams B-1. B-2. C.
The main focus of this experiment was to study the yielding and rupture of urlded joints
supported beams under various load systems. A single concentrated point load \vas
applied to b e m s E-2. E-3. F-1 and F-3 and two concentrated loads were used for beams
E-1 and F-2. Full depth-bearing stiffeners and sufficient lateral bracings wr.Etrt: pro~idedto
pre\.ent premature buckling. The reponed final results were caiculated on the b a i s of
directI). measured yield and ultimate shear stress values. The measured shcar stresses
\iwe significantly higher than values which wvould have been expected tiom tsnsile
coupon tests. probably as a result of strain hardening. The prediction of' ultimate strengtli
based on web-post yield (see Section 2.3) can therefore be espected ro bc. wrp,
consenative. Sudden weld rupture accornpanied by violent strain energj- reIease \vas the
T ~ v oseries of beams. four HEAS60 and three IPE270 sections (for dimensions see Table
3.1 ) kvere tested to failure. The objective of the experiment was to de\.elop a trther
ratios of castellated beams. The simply supported beams were tested under eight
unifonnly distributed concentrated loads. Three test loads. P l . P L and P3 wrtt reponed
to describe the different phases of the load-deflection diagrarn of each beam. Loads PI
and P2 define sudden changes in slope and P3 was the ultimate load. Flange and web
yield stresses were obtained fiom beam coupon tests and full depth stitTeners were
provided at support reaction points. Beams A, B and E failed under web buckling in the
zone of maximum shear. The beams F and G failed by lateral torsional buckling and were
thus omitted from M e r study herein. Beams C and D had deep (200rnm) plates at mid-
depth, and were reported as faiiing by web-pst buckling. Estimated strengths of the posts
of these two bems, using the colwnn strength formula of CSA (1994) assuming widths
equal to the maximum and minimum actual widths, bracket the uitimate test value of the
concentrated load. It is therefore evident that these were compression buckling failures
under the action of the concentrated loads acting directly above the unstiffened web-
posts. Since this mode is not k i n g studied, these two beams were not considered M e r .
Five types of beams with different geometricai properties, dl fabricated fiom the IPE300
rolled steel sections, were tested to destruction under two equal concentrated loads
applied at the third-span points. The experimental faiiure load was based on the
intersection of the tangent to the tinear part of the load vs. deflection diagram with the
tangent to the h o s t horizontal part of the curve. Measured yield stresses are not
reported. Calculations in the reference are based on the yield stress of the material, that is,
24 kglmm'(235 MPa), and it is later stated that yield stresses determined from umeponed
tensile tests were significantly higher than the above-mentioned value. Therefore, due to
the uncertainty in the yield stresses the reported results must be treated circumspectly.
This test program was designed to investigate the interaction of shear and moment forces
on the behavior of castellated beams under varying load conditions. The test arrangement
consisted of simply supported beams with fidl depth bearing stiffeners under load and
reaction points. Seven tests were perfonned which ranged from pure shear to pure
bending loading conditions. Load-deflection curves are given in the paper. From these the
ultimate loads and Ioads obtained fiom the intersection of tangents to the initiai linear
part and to the almost linear pst-yield part were obtained. Beam El, subjected to a single
depth of the post between the first and second hole opening. Beam E2 was designed to
investigate the effect of pure moment, and was subjected to two concentrated point loads.
Failure of this beam however, was outside the central control section and was associated
with extensive yielding in the end zones experiencing both shear and moment forces. The
hole closest to the load was the most severely damaged. Web buckling was the mode of
failure of specimen E3 in the zone of maximum shear, under the two point loading
system. Specimen E4 was designed to study the effect of pure shear across the central
buckling was the observed mode of faiiure. Beams L 1, L2, and L3 were tested under pure
bending moments. The first two were reported to fail by flexurai mechanisms. L3 was
also reported to fail by fiexural mechanism, however, lateral torsional buckling was also
Nine castellated beams fabricated fiom 8B10 rolled sections were tested to destruction.
The objectives of the investigation were to study the stniciural behavior in elastic and
plastic ranges. to study load carrying capacity and modes of failure, to compare observed
results with theoretical calculations, and to determine an optimum expansion ratio for
such bearns. Loads were applied at four concentrated points and failure loads were
reported as the ultimate loads. Well-defined yield stress values were obtained through
coupon tests and adequate bearing stiffeners were provided under reaction points.
Specimens A and C failed through excessive lateral buckling and are omitted from further
study. The iiltimate load of specimen B was recorded, but no frther details were given.
As for specimen D which had a ciass 2 web tee stem section, web throat, tee section and
compression flange yielding progressed in the shear span. As the maximum load was
reached. yield at the top low moment hole corner and at web-post mid-depth was evident.
Yielding and buckling of the compression flange in the pure bending region was the
failure mode of Bearn E. Local buckling of the compression flange in the constant
moment region was d s o the observed failure mode of specimen F; however, as the load
was hrther increased, the beam buckled laterally. A Vierendeel mechanism in the region
of highest shear was the mode of failure of specimen G. Specimen H, with a class 2
lange section, failed through buckling of the compression fiange in the constant moment
region. Specimen 1, with a class 1 web tee stem section failed through a Vierendeel
The objective of the investigation was to study the structural behavior of castellated
beams both in the elastic and plastic ranges, and to study their strength and mode of
faiIure. Three joists fabricated from 10B 1 1.5 shapes with equal spans and simple supports
and with varying positions of two symmetrical concentrated loads were used. Varying
expansion ratio, beam depths, hole and web-post geometries were studied for each of
these tests. Test loads were reported as the ultimate loads obtained during the
experiments. Beam A was provided with full bearing stiffeners under each load. It failed
through extensive yielding of the tee section and local compression flange buckling in the
region of constant moment. The flange to width ratio of beam A corresponded to a class 2
section.
Bearn B consisted of three tests. In the first two, B1 and B2, loads were in the elastic
range in order to venQ theoretical stress and deflection analyses. The third test. B3,
involved loading to destruction, but was omitted fiom M e r study because of the
Bearn C was provided with shon bearing stiffeners, (approximately half beam depth)
below the load points. The first two tests were in the elastic range and the third was
loaded to destruction. The filure mode of this beam involved yielding of the web at the
top low-moment corner of the opening in the shear span nearest the load application
point. followed by local buckling of the compression flange at the other end of the
opening. The flange had a Class 2 section properties. Yielding of the throat was also
noticed.
TABLE 3.1 Redwood & Demirdiian ( 1998)
l
d,"
bi
tu
4 il
" 340.6 1
101.60
5 -83
6.86
403 -35
101 -60
5.84
6.86
e 152.40 152.30
ljo" 176.58 302.5 1
sa 425.35 425 -45
Oh 55.68 68 -3
F, 338.67 333.43
TABLE 3.4.a Husain & Speirs ( 1973)
1.1 General
The results of the previous research work on castellated beams described in Chapter 3 are
compared in this chapter with the methods of anaiysis described in Chapter 2. Al1 shear
and bending moment loads are non-dimensionalized by dividing by the plastic shear or
mode of failure is predicted. Correlations between test results to theory are then reported.
The complete set of data for al1 78 bearns tested in the references of Chapter 3 are given
in Tables 3.1 to 3.10. Of these, 21 were eliminated fiom fiuther consideration because
they failed by modes other than those k i n g considered in this project. The remaining 57
beams are considered in this chapter. For reasons discussed below, more of these beams
had to be removed fiom consideration. For the remainder the predicted and measured
ultimate loads are compared. A summaxy of these results is given in Table 4.1.
Detailed computations for each of the four predicted failure modes (Vierendeel and
horizontal web-pst yield mechanisms, flexural mechanism and FEM buckiing analysis)
are given for each beam in Appendix B. Because of the varying moment-ta-shear ratios at
each hole in a beam, al1 holes must be considered independently, and the most critical one
for each failure mode must be identified.
Construction of the interaction diagrams representing plastic failure mechanisms was first
carried out. For the given beam arrangement shown below (Fig. 4. l ) , such a diagram is
m-DLIQn
hob 1
The radial lines represent the M N ratios for each of the openings in one-half of the span.
with the two holes under pure bending being represented on the vertical axis as holes 7
and 8. The M N ratio at the centerline of each opening is used. For each opening,
theoretical predictions of V N , and M/M, are obtained from the intersections of the radial
lines with the interaction diagrarn representing Vierendeel and flexural plastic
mec hanisms.
On the diagram are also plotted the predicted ilure loads corresponding to mid-post
yielding (V,,,N,,, and the buckling load predicted by FEM. The first of these is based on
Eqn 2.1 with the shear yield stress taken as f3F443. This has a constant value for al1 web-
posts, and plots on Fig. 4.2 as a vertical Iine (WO lines corresponding to two values of P
are shown). Elastic FEM results are given. although it is recognized that this buckling
and is neglected at this stage as good results with elastic analysis have been reported by
Redwood and Demirdjian (1 W8), and initially the simplest sotution was sought.
Based on the typical FEM model arrangements of Section 2.5, a two-hole model with 8 16
elements, as shown in Fig. 2.5, was chosen to sirnulate the behavior of a web-post under
high shearing force. This represents a half-span of a beam with four holes, and was
subject to the restraints and other details outlined in Section 2.5. Only vertical loads were
used and the model is subjected to constant shear force with some small bending forces
which were considered to be negligible insofar as they wodd affect the buckling load
(see Redwood and Demirdjian 1998). These FEM results are plotted on the interaction
diagram as two points with ordinates representing the moments at the two holes used in
the model. Thus it is implicitly assumed that moment has negligible effect; this
4.3 Cornparisons
Al1 modes of failure for each hole in a beam are identifiable on a diagram such as Fig.
4.2. The triangies represent the loading (V and M) at each hole for a given load on the
beam (values given in fact correspond to the failure load). As load is applied to the beam.
these points c m be considered as expanding proportionally outward from the origin. The
critical hole is the one for which the plotted point first reaches the failure envelope. and
the mode would be identified by the part of the envelope attained. This may alternatively
be interpreted as identiQing the failure hole as that one for which the ratio of test load to
The results shown in Fig. 4.2 are affected by the analysis for the horizontal web-post
these results (i.e. the vertical dashed lines) are ignored it can be seen that a flexural
mechanism failure is predicted at holes 7 and 8: hole 6 is almost at the point of failure in
a Vierendeel mechanism mode, and holes 5 and 4 in the same shear span are farther fiom
the failure surface. Holes 1, 2 and 3 are loaded well below the Vierendeel mechanism
load, and are far below the elastic buckiing load. The observed failure mode was that of
pure bending, as predicted by the above reasoning. If the horizontai yield mode had been
considered holes 1, 2 and 3 would have been criticai (with both predicted failure loads
lower than observed). It seems clear that in this case, the horizontal yield mode was not
relevant; in effect the verticai line should be shifted to the right to reflect a higher shear
There is some evidence that the effective shear stress at rnid-depth of the post at failure is
very high compared with the expected value F,/'/). Husain and Speirs ( 1971 ) directly
measured the shear yield stress of notched specimens fabricated from ASTM A36 steel
(nominal F,=36 ksi (248 MPa)) and for a number of specimens the average value was
41.6 ksi (287 MPa). The tensile yield stress was not reported, and so some uncertainty
exists as to the enhancement above F443 that this represents. However. if it is assumed
that the A36 web material had a real t e n d e yield stress of about 53 ksi (365 MPa) (such
hi& values have been measured for A36 steels in the 1960-70 period, see Redwood and
McCutcheon (1969)) then the measured shear yield is 1.35 (=41.6+(53/'13)) times that
yield was too high. On this basis. it has been asswned throughout that the effective shear
yield stress at the mid-depth of the posts is 1.35 times . the factor P is taken as
~ 4 d 3Thus
1.35. In the example of Fig. 4.2, it appears that even this enhancement is insufficient to
Following the above procedure, test-to-predicted Ioad ratios were computed for each test
beam. Certain tests had reported maximum test loads, while others derived their failure
loads fiom the intersection of tangents of the two curves of load vs. deflection diagrarn.
4.4 Discussion
In generai, the numencd results indicate good correlation with test results. .Most of the
cases with poor correlation, as indicated in Table 4.1, are those for which yield stress
values were not given, and nominal values have been used. These beams are identified by
Excluding the identified beams for which F, is not known, the mean and the coefficient
of variation (COV) of the test-to-predicted ratios for al1 other beams are 1.127 and 0.225.
These are based on the ultimate loads; if the tangential Ioad is used where available. these
Of the 57 beams listed, approximately half (29) had the mode of failure predicted
correctly. Of the others, some test modes were not defined (4), in others modes are
identified as flange buckling when a yield mechanism may have been imminent or
already developing ( S ) , in others. the uncertainty concerning the shear capacity of the
web-post affects the prediction. and for most of the remaining cases, there were only
small differences between the failure load for the predicted mode and that of an
alternative mode.
B 1.1 16 We b Shear
Buckling Mechanism
E 0.942 We b Flesural
Bucklitig h~lclianism
Halleux (1967) 1 2.82 i ** Slierir Sliear
Series 1 blechanism Mechrinism
IB 3 .OOO* * Shear Slierir
Mechanism klcchanism
3 2.090* * Flesural Shear
Mechanism iMechanism
5 1.504** FlesuraI Shear
blschanism iMechanism
*Minimum yield stress values of the conesponding beams were defined. The nominal
yield stress of 248 MPa (36ksi) was used to compute these ratios.
** Actual yield stress values of these beams were not reported. Minimum yield stress
value of 235 MPa (24kg/rnm2)was used to compute these ratios.
CHAPTER FIVE
5.1 General
In the FEM analyses considered so far. the only loading condition treated approximates
pure shear. and furthemore the mode1 has been limited to one cornpx-ising only two
openings. In this chapter more cornplete models are examined and moment-to-shear ratios
\ . a ~ - i n gfrom pure shear to pure bsnding are considered. In addition. the analysis has dealt
only with elastic buckling behavior. and the impact of inelasticit). is esamined.
In section 5.2. the loading used to create any moment-to-shear ratio is described and in
section 5.3 modeIs containing up to four openings are considered under pure shear as tvell
as pure bending. The effect of moment-CO-shear ratio is then considered for four test
beams representative of a wide range of castellated beam geometries. These results are
used to establish a generai forrn of interaction diagram to define elastic buckling loads of
castellated beams under any shear to moment ratio. Having established this form. in
range of geometries is performed. The use of these elastic results. in conjunction uith the
plastic analyses is examined in section 5.8 with the aim of developing inelastic buckling
To study the behavior of models under various shear to moment ratios, several
MSCMASTRAN elastic fmite element buckling anaiysis nins were necessary. To create
pure shear and pure bending forces, as well as various V M ratios. different loading
In order to produce pure shear force conditions at any point within the length of the
model, the two vertically concentrated static loads (Fig.5.I) used in the analyses
couple. This couple was created by applying equal and opposite horizontal forces at the
top and bonom web-to-flange intersection points at the left hand end of the model, as
shown in Fig. 5.2. In the several models considered below these forces could be adjusted
to provide pure shear at any desired point (e.g. the hole centerlines). Similarly, with the
vertical loads removed, a clockwise couple applied by such horizontal forces on the lefi
end of the beam was used to simulate pure moment conditions, as shown in Fig. 5.3. Any
combination of shear and moment forces could be generated by cornbining these verticai
The deformed shapes under vertical loads and under pure shear conditions as shown in
Figs. 5.1 and 5.2, demonstrate the same buckling pattern of the post, with slight rwisting
of the flange to accomodate the double curvanue bending efiect over the hieght of the
post. Under pure bending conditions however, the region above the middle opening
resisting the compression force is buckled, with large twisting of the flange to
Due to the presence of the stiffener on the left end and the applied constraints on the right
of the model, it was thought that the stiffened web posts adjacent to these ends mi@
provide restraint to the rotations of the imer web-post of the two hole model. To ensure
there is no such restmint, models consisting of three and four holes were also
investigated. Both pure bending and pure shear forces were considered for two. three and
four hole models, al1 under the same boundary and loading conditions. These analyses
were canied out for four of the test beams described in the literature. These were beam G-
2 from Husain and Speirs (1973), beam B-1 fiom Altifillisch Toprac and Cook (1957).
beam F-3 Husain and Speirs (1971)and b a r n 10-3 from Zaarour and Redwood (1996).
These four beams were found to have the diverse properties representing a wide range of
Resuits for pure bending are expressed as the beam buckling moment as a ratio of the
plastic moment and are given in Table 5.1. The three and four hole models produce
similar buckling moments and these were lower than for the two hole rnodel.
I 1 I I
hole models under pure shear conditions (Fig. 5.4). The chailenge here was to determine
at which hole zero moment forces should be edorced to produce the pure shear condition.
As indicated in Table 5.2, several analyses were done to create the zero moment force
condition at different holes. Al1 the holes of the two and three hole models were tested,
and only minor difierences in the results were obtained. For the four hoie model only the
two interior holes had imposed the zero moment conditions and again only minor
differences are evident, with no trend discernible between the rnodels with different
numbers of holes. The differences in the critical buckling shear loads of 2, 3. and 4 hole
In view of these results and to be consistent in subsequent analyses, the three hole model
was chosen to represent al1 further FEM analyses in this study. It sbould be noted that
under pure shear loading the different models produced only marginally different results
and the two hole mode1 utilized for the analysis of Chapter 4 was thus conftnned to be
selected beams using the three hole model. The results are shown in Figures 5.5. 5.6. 3.7
and 5.8 (the two ordinates of the elastic FEM results plotted for each V N p ratio refer to
It c m be seen that under pure bending, plastic failure occurs at much lower loads than the
buckling loads. Under pure shear, buckling loads may range from much lower to much
higher vatues than the plastic failure load. The resuits shown on these diagrams will be
discussed below.
Interaction Diagmm
Beam 103
-,
,,Yield Theory
BasUCFRd
n =2
Interaction Diagnm
Beam F 3
,,,Y RH Theory
,
Bastic FEM
n = 2
with Mo and V, corresponding to pure shear and bending conditions respectively. Several
dif'ferent values o f n were exarnined. The curve found to best represent the FEA results
for the fuIl range of M N was fouid to correspond to n = 2. In this way. given -Mc,and V,,
values, a relationship defining the buckling behavior under any M N ratio is established.
5.1 Parameter Study
castellated beams under any M N ratio. a pararneter study relating the behavior of beams
with different geometries under pure shear and pure bending conditions was carried out.
Elastic finite element analysis was performed on 27 beams to derive elastic web buckling
coeftkients under pure shear and pure bending conditions. The beams were designed and
selected to present various ratios and proportions of castellated bearn geometries. The
relevant parameters were considered to be the ratio of hole height to minimum web-post
width. hJe. and the ratio of minimum web-post width to web thickness. eh,,. Because of
the wide range of possible beam and castellated hole geornetries. the pararneter study had
to be of limited scope. and thus the following computations are restricted to castellations
In a previous study by Redwood and Demirdjian (1998). a pararneter study to tind the
elastic buckling loads under high shear loading was carried out that incorporated a \\.ide
range of bearn characteristics. The study assumed elastic behavior throughout. The mid-
post weld was assumed to be Full penetration and had the sarns thickness and material
properties as the web. The flange was included in the mode! because of its importance in
restraining web rotations, but conservative estimates of flange dimensions were used for
the general case. These assumed that the flange was only as thick as the web. and the
f'lange width was that of a Canadian Standard S 16.1-94 class 3 section. Thus:
V'
Two series of beams were considered, each with a constant hole height-to-beam depth
ratio. For each senes. the relevant parameters were selected to be the hole height to
minimum web-post width, hJe, and the ratio of minimum web-post tvidth to web
thickness, e/t, The castellations had hole edge slopes of 60" to the horizontal. without
cutting angles.
The FEM model consisted of two holes and was identical to that used for the analyses
described above in Chapter 4. Thus loading was primarily a sliear load. with tu-O vertical
loads applied at one end at the level of the flanges. with the model supported venically by
Ln the study the critical horizontal web-post shear force dong the welded joint was found
using FEM. and then the corresponding vertical shearing force on the beam was found.
X: =
The tlnite elernent analysis gave the ratio of shearing force in the web post to the vertical
shear on the beam, VJV. The product of the ratio V,N and the vertical shear force to
cause buckling gave the criticai horizontal shear force V,,,, in the web-post at the welded
4, =
joint. V,,, was then related to vertical shear V through
"
- S
dx-2~$
. (Eqn 2.3) derived
from the free body diagram of Figure 2.2. where y, defines the line of action of the
longitudinal force resultant acting in the the tee section. which was taken as being at the
crntroid. This was verified by comparing this value with that given by the FEM for the 27
beams used in the parameter study. An average ratio of 0.983 with coefficient of variation
of 0.02 was found. suggesting that the centroid provided a close approximation.
dalues of k obtained from the parameter study are shown in Figure 5.9.
k curves
The vertical shear that will cause web post buckling can therefore be obtained by
These curves cover a wide range of castellated beam geometries with 60" openings.
Through linear interpolation between the two series of curves. the buckling coefficient for
The previous parameter study was refined in the current research to correspond to
buckling under pure shear, and to make the flange modelling slightly more conservative.
A new study to incorporate pure bending is descnbed in section 5.6. For the current
research the selected mode1 consisted of three holes as FEM results revealed its better
performance under bending moment: although no irnprovement was noted for pure shear.
consistency between models for the two load cases was considered desirable. The flange
dimensions assumed were modified so that the width was based on the assumption of ri
2(l45),
Class 1 section. i.e. 6, = . (Clause 1 1 2. Canadian Standard S 16.1-94) ~vhereF,
E
\vas taken as 350 MPa. This reduced the flange widths, making the tlange restraint
slightly more conservative. Narrower flange widths would make al1 cases consenfative as
compared to class 3 section. which was found to be slightly unconservative for some
compact sections.
Under pure shear conditions, two vertical forces were applied on the nglit end at the level
of the flanges and two horizontal counter clockwise coupling forces were applied on the
lefi end at the flange to web intersecting nodes to counter the overturning etlct of the
vcrtically applied forces. Thus there were no bending moments at the centre o f the span
(Fig. 5.2).
Fig. 5.10 shows the results of the analyses for web-buckling coefficient k, due to pure
shear. There were minor variations between the results of the new and the previous studp
due to the minor modelling changes. For beams with hJdZ- = 0.5. el\, = 15 is plotted on
the curves to demonstrate the slightly greater dependency of e/4, than evident in the
previous study. Furthemore. there are minor differences between the shape of the c u n e s
for h,/d, =O.S. From the FEM studies of different models in Section 5.3 differences up to
3% can be expected between the hvo and three hole models. and this together with the
flange modelling change explains the differences between the results shown in Figs. 5.9
and 5.10.
k" curves
To derive an expression for web buckling due to pure bending moment forces. the same
series of beams under the sarne conditions were subjected to two horizontal clockwise
coupling forces.
Taking a,, = -
M,r where S is the section rnodulus of the unperforated section. and
S
assuming that the area of the web resisting the compression force is jt, a coefficient k is
defined by
This tlexural buckling coefficient. kb. is given in Fig. 5.1 1 for a given variety of
castellated beam geometries. Almost constant kb values are maintained in the hJdo- = 0.74
unti1 the lines curve downward, indicating that hole height to minimum width (h,/e) ratio
has very little effect on the overall beam buckling behavior under pure bending forces.
The k, values Vary less than the k, curves, indicating that the flexural buckling load is not
sensitive to the ratio of hole height to minimum width (hJe). While camparing the two
series of bearns, larger buckling coefficients under pure moment conditions were found
for the senes of bearns Mth larger tee sections hJd,=.5. but the behavior was reversed
under pure shear conditions, where beams with lower tee sections with hJd,=0.74
- had
higher k, coefficients.
Thus based on a given beam geometry, the critical moment to cause elastic buckling is
Since buckling usually involves inelastic action, the influence of plasticity is considered
in this section to improve the already mentioned methods of analysis and derive general
any beam with 60" openings, and follows the procedure used for the four bearns as
discussed in Section 5.3. Elastic buckling values of shear (V,) and moment (M,) can be
computed from the k, and kb curves. By dividing the resuits by the plastic shear and
moment capacities of the section, such a diagram can be plotted on the sarne a.xes as the
Interaction Diagnm
6eam 6-2 Huaain & Speim (t973)
On this diagram, radial lines fiom the origin for each hole of the test bearns were then
drawn and from each line a plastic and elastic buckling shear capacity is obtained at the
intersection points. For each test beam, the two governing shear values were thus
obtained. the plastic mechanism and elastic buckling shears. V,, and V,,.
To obtain an estimate of the ultimate shear load of the test beams which incorporates the
possible interaction of elastic buckling and yielding failure modes. the following two
From equations for inelastic lateral buckling of beams (Clause 13.6. CSA 1994).
(
.VI, = 1.15 M, 1- ):Oc . If M. is replaceci by V,, and My by V .,we c m w t e
Alternarively, fiom colvmn strength equations (CS& 1994) C , = A F , + A'" 1;. the
following expression is proposed,
y, = y,, (1 + k2")-;
The equations were then plotted and compared against acnial test results for the 60"
casteilated beams (summary of results is given in Appendix C). To plot the results in a
Based on the results of 17 test beams with 60' holes and relevant failure modes. both
equations 5.6 and 5.7, with n taken as 4.0 in the latter, were found to provide similar
predictions of the test results. The following statistics apply to the two predictor
equations
For these 17 beams the simplified approach taken in Chapter 4, in which the predicted
strength was taken as the lower of the yield strength and the elastic buckiing (FEM)
strength, produced a mean of 1.O96 and COV of 0.170. The increased mean value for the
two equations is expected, since both will predict a lower value than the lowest of the
yield and elastic buckling strengths. It should also be noted that for use in equations 5.6
and 5.7, the elastic buckling strengths were computed using the generalized buckling
interaction equation 5.1, whereas the computations in Chapter 4 were based on exact
rnodeiing of each bearn. The lower COVs represent an improvement in the prediction if
As s h o w in Fig. 5.13, the four bearns with of about 0.5 reported by Sherbourne (1 968)
show significant overstrength compared with the predictions. The reason for this is not
clear. but it may be noted that the actual beam cross-section dimensions were not given.
Lambda
- -
CONCLUSION
6.0 Conclusion
The objective o f this research prograrn was to study the failure of castellated b e a n ~ swith
u-ere correlated with the results of a number of physical tests of castellated beams
Since web buckling usually involved inelastic action. the effect of plasticity was
considered in conjunction with elastic FEM results. to modify the theoretical nlodeIs used
initially.
.4 parameter study for a wide range of castellated beam geornetries rias performed to
deri\*eelristic web buckling coefficients under pure shear and pure bending forces. These
results established elastic buckling interaction diagrams. For any given M N ratio. results
The following remarks on the behavior of castellated beams are based on the several
theoretical models used incorporating both elastic and plastic analyses. and their
- Results obtained from the interaction diagrams based on plastic anaiysis used to predict
84
shear or flexural mechanisms were found to give generaily satisfactory predictions. This
diagram is designed based on the properties of a given beam. However, it does not
- Y ield stress developed at the minimum horizontal width of the mid-post, equation 2.3.
was found to be conservative. A factor of P = 1.35 was applied to the sheaf yield stress to
account for the sttain hardening eEect expected to be developed at this section. Much
higher failure loads were then obtained compared with those given by the initiai stress
- Elastic buckling analysis with FEM models could be correlated with experimental
results, and therefore was used to perfonn various parameter studies. However. it was
considered necessary to take into account the effect of plasticity on the buckling loads. To
- Given the eiastic criticai buckling loads under pure shear and pure
bending (V,, b)loads, a curve of shape (MMO)"+ (VN,)"= 1 with n=2
was fitted to define the buckling loads under any VA4 ratio.
- The design considerations and computations incorporating the effect of elasticity and
plasticity on the buckling loads is limited to 60Ucastellated beam geometries. Extension
Aglan. A.A., and Redwood, R.G. 1974. Web buckling in castellated beams. Proc. Instn.
Civ. Engrs, London, U.K., Part 2, Vol. 57, pp 307-320.
Altifillisch, M.D., Cooke, B.R., and Toprac, A.A., 1957. An investigation of open web
expanded beams. Welding Research Council Bulletin, Series No.47. pp 77s-88s.
Bazile, A., and Texier, 5.1968. Essais de poutres ajoures (Tests on castellated beams).
Constr. Mtallique, Paris, France, Vo1.3, pp 12-25.
Caffiey, J.P., and Lee, J.M. 1994. MSCMASTRAN: Linear static analysis user's guide,
V68. The Macneal-Schwendler Corporation, Los Angeles, California, USA
Galambos, A.R., Husain, M.U., and S p i n W.G. 1975. Optimum expansion ratio of
castellated steel beams. Engineering Optimization, London, Great Britain, Vol. 1. pp 213-
22s.
Halleu, P. 1967. Limit anaiysis of castellated steel beams. Acier-Stahl-Steel, 325, 133-
144.
Husain, M.U., and Speirs, W.G. 1971. Failure of castellated beams due to rupture of
welded joints. Acier-Stahl-Steel, No. 1.
Husain, M.U., and Speirs, W.G. 1973. Experiments on castellated steel beams. J.
American Welding Society, Welding Research Supplement, 52:8, pp 329s-3423.
Kerdal, D., and Nethercot, D.A. 1984. Failwe modes for castellated beams. Journal of
Constructional Steel Research, Vol. 4, pp 295-3 15.
Raymond, M., and Miller, M. 1994. MSC/NASTRAN: Quick reference guide, V68. The
Macneal-Schwendler Corporation, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Redwood, R.G. and McCutcheon, J.O. 1969. Beam tests with unreinforced web openings,
Journal of the Structural Division, ASCE, Vo1.94, No.ST1, 1-1 7.
Redwood, R.G.1968. Ultimate strength design of beams with multiple openings. Preprint
No. 757, ASCE Annuai Meetings and National Meeting on Structural Engineering.
Pittsburgh, Pa, U.S.A..
Redwood. R.G., and Cho, S.H. 1993. Design of steel composite beams with web
openings. Journal of Constructionai Steel Research, 25: 1&2.23-42.
Redwood R.G., and Demirdjian S. 1998. Castellated beam web buckling in Shear.
Journal of Stmc?ural Engineering, American Society of Civil Engineers, 124(8): 1202-
1207.
Sherboume, A.N. 1966. The plastic behavior of castellated bearns. Proc. 2""
Commonwealth Welding Conference. Inst. Of Welding, No. C2, London. pp 1-5.
Toprac, A.A., and Cooke, B.R. 1959. An experimental investigation of open-web beams.
-
Welding Research Council Bulletin, New York. Series No.47, pp 1 10.
Ward, J.K. 1990. Design of composite and non-composite cellular beams. The Steel
Cofistniction Institute.
Zaarour, W.J. 1995. Web buckling in thin webbed castellated beams. M.Eng. Thesis.
Department of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics. McGill University.
APPENDIX A
This Appendis contains a sample input file to construct the 2 hole Finitr: Element mode1
This Appendix contains detailed Test-to-Theory computations for al1 the beams Iisted in
Table 4.1. For each test beam. each hole until mid-span is studied. Al1 results are
transformed to shear and moment forces, and are non-dimensional. Reported ultimate test
load (V ,, N p )and (M,,,/M,), elastic FEM buckling (VJV,). Shear mechanism (Vl,N,).
calculated. Ratios of test results to the predicted failure modes are then computed. aiid
maximum ratio on each row is calculated. The predicted failure mode is derived based on
the ratio selected by the maximum of ail the ratios of Test-to-Theory on each row.
, ' ,
E,i : 1 : El Pi
8 18 i
1
3E: :.ai"/ a. m'cv
3;
Q D I
% , W ~ W ! F hl'-:
*
:oip
kib!
si
'
h i ? !
:o. 2: k k ?,
s
i , .
! , I l !
SI
1
i ;
O
di 00 O .
Pi .
El
,I ,g
qIq1
-1
m~ j m
.
$
E!
! Cr)
9 '9
Cr)I
1
i ' (O
c3-h!
>-: ; '0,OI . si , . O O ' >El "!'"
0 o1
O
-
I
C 5
m ' l n in.-
a0 o o l m a01
"'v)!? rr,
aX X;5; CnQiCnaQ)
0 0 0 0 0
al
, * ml* * L " I c > ~ I ~ ? ~
9'
-
O1OiO'Ol , Of00O 0 0 0 0 0
5 5
m b V)
(DJb
*'??
hl
e
0 0 0 0
hl!
- O
*
0
QuaD hl
r-r-oco
C? Y , ?
0 0 0
0 h - r ~ "
m e - CD
wm(Oaoa
0 0 0 0 0
w-
b
>- >- -
F - F - CD'* a (O 0 0 0 0 0
a1 raO ta)I Q r - r - r - b r -
0) (9:q4<4'Cc1 O % %~ 80%0, a)aDaqaoQ
3'
1
5 0'00'01
>- 1
0 -
0 0 0 0 0
a a. b m q ( V Q
a * a---
g * C V I ' O IqO il
r:?
$ v - V ) U 3 r n O
p ~ ' -9 q
g N <D (O b v
o Q , a D m ( D
q i
0 , oO Ei O O ~ c q c o
0
1
aE I
O 00,o
0 0 0 0 0
r"
2
C ~ , Q ~ - , = I
QD ! 91 - l b
1 si
21
W O C V -
o rna- si'
-5:
aQS&CZ
:ha
O;fliq:U?i
$!
O F - *
cumU-)S
s' o \ o l0 o: , , 0 0 0 0
P ~ O o O O
*
h l ; h l l mC U I
.-!FJ"sF
0 : Oi
, /
o,O!
pi
'3"'
<
cr)
- 7
F
0 0-
-
0 cwm
0;o'
- F
- ' v n P'
SI
-
eam
iole Max 4 0 s m p test )tediction
ratio
-- -
over over
VtrslNp heoq
1
.- - 0.847 0.415 0.817
- --
buckling
- .
2 0.847 1.245
3 0.847 2.085
4
.. - 0.847 2.915
--5 - 0 847
- --
3.745
- -
lean
- --.-
vole-- Max M,e,4Mp
-- -- test mdictior
ratio
-- -
avec over
vu.& :heoq
Bar(
hole Max test ~redictior
ratio over over
VirstNp theoq
-
Max MtesdM, test predictioi
ratio
--.-- over ove1
v. t.e..s. f l p heor
y, -1
E. (q
r 3E
a ad
b 1
ml , , z 51 z
F
-1 . F i
-'
q
as
a 5.
1 a),
%1
a
>
z:
S.
=?
QO
a)
O
Max test predictior
ratio
. . over
heory
O.862 1.136
. . shear
0.91C
-
mech.
1.136
. .
lean
hole
-- -- Y?" Max tesUM test irediction
ratio
- over ove1
ItesUV heor)
1 0.283 1.960 0.495 1.960 mid-post
2 0.283 1 960 1.484
3 or000 1 .O39 infinite
7
hole tesW VcrN tesWy
. . - tesuMy
- - Max tesUM test predictioi
ratio over over
iheory
- --
-
Mp
kN.n
- - .* . ..-
1.8l
--
1 mid-post 105.: -.
..
test
- - -- - predictioi
- - -- - ml!
over kN.w
-.- - .
..
heory
-- - - -
1.809 mid-posl
- -- 109.1
- . . . -- k.4-
Csflv, - - - -- Max WasilMp test predictioi
ratio
- -- -
over ove1 kN.m
. - .
v,esfl, heory
1
. . ,
a: 'm'm'm9- c ~ o J -, ! ~
si
,
W -r'Wa*,' w 9
W 1 N 1 C V i N . C V CV CV hl
!1 .NSI Nl F
I Ni /SC ,Y S
I Ni S
~ P, ~- C
?VI ~~Ci V~~! '+ 7 5 , T . Y y T ' y
>a; ! IO 10 ; OI O I O ; O/ O ! O j T
1 O 0 : o0 ' 0O O O
-
h
LD
CO s! ,i , 8
d
a!b
,!,i b ; w i m ' F: i : $: r3
Q) m
Q> rn Qm) . 'a
Oa- N 0
V .-
in
-
E:
8 j 8~
~ ! 8 ;~ ~1 0~~ ~. T:
~Ei ; ~ !4 O
0 4 rN ,iN. C ~
; O ' O O O ~Oo
, ,
--
y ! ,
! 0[0 : 0O
i ~ ~ ~ l ~ i ~ ' ~ l ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ j
*
- . Y 7 . 7 ' - F
a) I Q D aD joD
'P -,a0 ep
:a) IoD :al1 Q i*!
!a3tQD W : ( D (D W ( D ' C D (O (D
,8/8iO;1818181Pi~i , ,O .O ; O ! O O O O O
Ob -
!
0,
a
ca; .b C0.w. w , n l -nl
% ! aa~
* ri
*. . CV
o . N- i rC iV tb - ' - O OD
O 0
Cu
-? 2m.!O , !
1
I .
l
I I
,
: - I C! V ; *I I 9 l I m ! <; D i b
I
:
,
.
I : < .o !
j
I
I
s
.
! >i
, g ! ~: ! ;
.o:o;o,o
.-
O. O
~
. .
C V : r n ! O rC) (O'bai
, I I , ; : S l ~ :i
-
bear -
holt
Max M,es4M1 test predictioi
ratio over ove1
VI*,fl, theor
1
3.00c O 360 3.00( shear
2-
2.945 1.075 mech.
.
. . .
3
2,943 1.795
4
2,953 2.510
5
-- 0.830 infinite
6
- -. D.838 infinite
- -
bean
-- -
hols
Max M,.,4MF - - test .predictior
. .
ratio
- - over over
v..fl,
-- theo~
1
1.845 O 433 2.090 shear
2
1.845 1.296 mech.
3
1.845 2 162
4
!. 090 3 027
5
1.742 infinite
6
1.742 infinite
1
Max Mt@ S m , test aredictioi
ratio over ovet
- "
Vtes& theor
-- .
lear
. - - ..
rok-
Max test vedictioi
- -
rtio
- Ove1 ove1
- -
v!../v? heory
1
2 .O43 0.603 1S i 6 shear
,136 1.809 mech
3
.576 3.015
4
5 .547 infinite
.547 infinite
- - -
~ear
holr 1
Max MI,S,IM test predictio
ratio over over
vte,fl, heoq
1-
1.21C 0.283 1.613 shear
2
--- 1.214 0.850 mech.
3
-- - 1-613 0.567
-
4
1.606 0.000
.
~ i'
.
106 infinite 1 .O63 flexural
L2
1,O4 infinite 1 .O43 f~exura~
L3
1.11 infinite 1.113 flexural
. .
mech.
ential Loads
ean
!oie
--
- Max k S m f test ~redictioi
rtio ovec ovec
ieory
1
.225 O 283 1.226 shear
2
.225 0.850 mech
3
226 1416
4
225
1
Man Mt,s/M, test predictio
ratic over ove1
Vtesflp :heoi
i.ooi infinite
-.
-
APPENDIX C
This Appendix contains al1 caIculations in deriving the Buckling loads under the effect of
-aS0-Qt
a tt if.
p n . bbf'
Ccs D Qm
D Q1
D h
?l m
?m-
- m u