Engineering Structures 27 (2005) 1528–1536

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Elastic buckling of web plates in I-girders under patch and wheel loading
T. Ren, G.S. Tong∗
Department of Civil Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China

Received 27 September 2004; received in revised form 11 May 2005; accepted 11 May 2005
Available online 13 June 2005

Abstract

This paper makes a brief review of the earlier research on the elastic buckling of rectangular plates with simply supported and clamped
boundary conditions, as well as the buckling of web plates in I-girders subjected to patch load. New investigation has been carried out to
simulate the realistic load and the restraining conditions of the web plates in I-girders. The buckling of a large number of models under patch
load was analyzed with ANSYS and formulae were proposed to predict the elastic buckling coefficients of webs in I-girders. The rotational
restraints provided to the web plates by the flanges are considered accurately in the suggested formulae.
The wheel load is another kind of patch load rarely touched in the literature. This paper suggests a simple model to determine the bearing
stresses on the top edge of the web plates in I-girders where the effect of the crane rail rigidity is considered. Based on this model, the
buckling of the web plate is analyzed and formulae with excellent accuracy are suggested to predict the buckling load.
© 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Patch loading; Wheel loading; Web plates in I-girders; Elastic buckling coefficients

1. Introduction Lagerqvist [1] made an excellent review on this topic.

Concentrated forces applied perpendicularly to the upper
flanges of I-girders, a load case usually referred to as patch
loading, are common in most steel structures, as shown in
Fig. 1. Although a lot of concentration has been focused on
this problem, the analytic solution has not been obtained
due to the complexity of the problem. Therefore, most
investigators used the finite element method to study the
behavior of the webs under patch loading.
The elastic buckling strength of a rectangular plate under
patch loading can be expressed as follows:
π2E tw3
Fcr = kcr
12(1 − µ2 ) h w
in which kcr is the elastic buckling coefficient of the plate,
h w and tw are height and thickness of the plate, and E and µ
are modulus of elasticity and Poisson’s ratio of the material,
respectively.
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 571 87952259; fax: +86 571
87961697.
E-mail address: tonggs@zju.edu.cn (G.S. Tong).
Only a brief review is given in the following.
Girkmann in 1936 was the first researcher to study the
elastic stability of a rectangular, simply supported plate
subjected to a single edge force. His results applies only
to plates with aspect ratio, a/ h w less than 1.1 and the
solution was given in the form of a determinant which
had to be evaluated for any particular case. Based on the
energy method, Zetlin [2] investigated the elastic buckling
of rectangular plates with different aspect ratios under
patch loading. It was assumed that the applied load was
equilibrated by parabolically distributed shear stresses along
the two vertical edges of the plate. White and Cottingham [3]
(1) studied this problem using the finite difference method.
Rockey [4] presented an investigation of buckling of
simply supported and clamped rectangular plates under
partial edge loading using a finite element method. The
study was expanded to webs in I-girders. For webs in
I-girders, the stresses are assumed to be uniform along
the vertical edges and the vertical edges were allowed
to rotate as a rigid body about the neutral axis of the
section so that the Bernoulli’ assumption is valid as in the
web of an actual plate girder. After comparing with the

0141-0296/$ - see front matter © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2005.05.006
 T. Ren, G.S. Tong / Engineering Structures 27 (2005) 1528–1536
(a) Patch loading.
(b) Wheel loading.
Fig. 1. The model of the I-girder under patch loading and wheel loading.
buckling of the rectangular plate with identical size, it was
found that the buckling coefficient of the web increased
significantly because of the flange, the buckling mode was
also different from that of a rectangular plate. Based on
the energy approach suggested by Alfutov and Balabukh,
Khan [5–7] presented solutions for the buckling of webs
in I-girders. The assumed stress distribution satisfied only
the equilibrium conditions, and the corresponding strains
may not satisfy the compatibility requirement. Using the
same stress distribution as in
Khan’s
theory and the assumed
jπy
buckling displacement w = m i=1
n iπ x
j =1 i j sin a sin h w ,
a
Robert [8] presented solutions for buckling coefficients of
webs in I-girders under patch loading on the basis of the
Galerkin method. Moriawaki and Takinoto [9] presented
a formula for calculating the resistance for concentrated
loads applied at one flange. The formula includes the critical
buckling load and the author gave an expression for the
buckling coefficients in which the flange thickness was
included, therefore the influence of the flanges has been
considered to some extent. Graves Smith [10,11] has also
concentrated on this problem by using a finite stripe method.
Kitipornchai [12] utilized a finite element method using
thin-plate elements to investigate the problem studied by
Rockey [4] and Khan [5]. The aim of doing this was to
validate his finite element formulation, this validated also the
results by Rockey and Khan.
Based on a number of numerical analyses, Graciano
and Lagerqvist [13] suggested the following equation for
the buckling coefficients of webs in I-girders under patch
loading.
 2
hw  in their studies. The out-of plane displacements at the four
kcr = 5.82 + 2.1 + 0.46 4 β (2)
a
1529
Fig. 2. The model of simply supported rectangular plate.
b t3
in which β = h f tf3 is the factor considering the rotational
w w
restraint from flanges. The physical meaning of the factor
β is the ratio of the flange free torsional stiffness to the
bending stiffness of the web. We could imagine that when
β is very small, the rotational restraint from flanges to webs
is too slight to restrict the rotation of the web, the web,
therefore, behaves like simply supported plates. When β
becomes greater, approaching ∞, the web behaves like a
clamped plate. Eq. (2) gives an infinite buckling coefficient
in this case which obviously violates the requirement of
approaching a clamped plate. Therefore, it is worthwhile to
further investigate the elastic buckling behavior of the webs
in I-girders under patch loading and explain the restraining
effects of the flanges properly.
The webs of crane runway girders are subjected to wheel
loadings, as shown in Fig. 1(b). The buckling of webs under
wheel loading, although similar to the patch loading, is
rarely reported in the literature. This paper will also address
this problem.
2. Validation of the analysis method
A finite element analysis with the general-purpose finite
element package ANSYS was conducted to investigate
the elastic buckling behavior of a simply supported and
a clamped rectangular plate, as well as the webs in
I-girders under patch loading. Uniform loads were applied
on the top edge of the plate over a limited length or
on the flanges of I-girders. For single rectangular plates,
focus was put on the effects of the length–height ratio,
a/ h w , on the elastic buckling coefficients, while the effects
of the elastic restraints at the flange–web juncture to the
elastic buckling coefficients of webs in I-girders were well
concerned. The four-node elastic shell element SHELL63
was adopted in ANSYS, it has six degrees of freedom at
each node: translations in the nodal x, y, and z directions
and rotations about the nodal x, y, and z-axes.
Shown in Fig. 2 is the model adopted by Rockey [4],
Shahabian and Robert [8] and Graciano and Lagerqvist [13]
edges are prevented and the vertical displacements at the left
1530 T. Ren, G.S. Tong / Engineering Structures 27 (2005) 1528–1536

and the right edges are restrained. Horizontal displacements

of the nodes at the middle of the top and the bottom
edges were restrained to prevent the rigid body motion
of the plate. Table 1 shows the coefficients of the simply
supported rectangular plates of a/ h w = 1.0 with different
c/ h w , obtained from ANSYS as well as those cited from
Rockey, Shahabian & Robert and Graciano & Lagerqvist. It
is observed that the ANSYS results are in good agreement
with others.

Table 1
Elastic buckling coefficients of simply supported rectangular plates
(a/ h w = 1.0)

c/ h w kcrs kcrs kcrs kcrs

(Rockey) (Shahabian) (Lagerqvist) (ANSYS) Fig. 3. The elastic buckling coefficients of simply supported rectangular
plates.
0.0 3.25 – 3.23 3.22
0.1 3.3 3.27 3.26 3.26
0.2 3.45 – 3.34 3.36
0.25 – 3.51 3.41 3.43
0.3 3.60 – 3.49 3.51
0.4 3.70 3.68 3.67 3.71
0.5 3.95 3.90 3.92 3.97

3. Elastic buckling of single rectangular plate

3.1. Simply supported rectangular plates

In this paper, 1, 2, 3 and 4, 5, 6 are used to denote the

degrees of freedom of translations in x, y, and z directions
and rotations about x, y, and z-axes, respectively.
For simply supported rectangular plates, the first degree
of freedom of nodes on the top and bottom edges and
the first, second and sixth degrees of freedom of nodes
on the left and the right edges were restrained. Horizontal
displacements of the nodes at the middle of the top and
the bottom edges were restrained to prevent the rigid body
motion. The width over which the load is applied was
expressed as ss = c/ h w . Rectangular plates with a/ h w =
1.0–4.0 and ss = 0–0.5 were analyzed and the coefficients
calculated from ANSYS are shown in Fig. 3.
Based on the analysis results and the formula suggested
by Lagerqvist [1], the following equation is proposed
to calculate the elastic buckling coefficients of simply
supported plates under patch loading:
 
1.2 2.0
kcrs = 2.05 + + ss 0.5 +
2
. (3)
(a/ h w )2 (a/ h w )2
In Table 2, the coefficients computed from Eq. (3)
are compared with those obtained from ANSYS and the
difference between them is insignificant.
3.2. Clamped rectangular plates
If an I-girder has heavy flanges, the rotational restraint
provided to the web by flanges is so significant that the
Fig. 4. The elastic buckling coefficients of clamped rectangular plates.
flange–web junctures serve as clamped boundaries of the
web. The left and the right edge of the webs are still in
simply supported conditions due to the transverse stiffeners.
In this paper, the plates with this boundary conditions are
denoted as clamped plates. In order to simulate this kind
of conditions, the first and sixth degrees of freedom of the
nodes on the top and the bottom edges are restrained, the
first, second and sixth degrees of freedom of the nodes on
the left and the right edges are restrained. The longitudinal
displacement of the plate was prevented by restricting the
degree of freedom 1 of the node at middle of the top and the
bottom edges.
Clamped rectangular plates with a/ h w = 1.0–4.0 and
ss = 0–0.5 were analyzed and the coefficients calculated
from ANSYS are shown in Fig. 4. Based on the analysis
results, the following equation is proposed to determine the
elastic buckling coefficients of clamped rectangular plates
under patch loading:
 
 2
a 0.6
kcrf = (1 + 0.65ss2 ) 6.3 − 0.05 + . (4)
hw (a/ h w )2
Eq. (4) is compared with ANSYS in Table 3, again the errors
are very small.
 T. Ren, G.S. Tong / Engineering Structures 27 (2005) 1528–1536 1531

Table 2
The elastic buckling coefficients of simply-supported rectangular plates

a/ h w ANSYS Eq. (3) Error (%)

ss ss ss
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5

1.0 3.22 3.26 3.36 3.51 3.71 3.97 3.25 3.28 3.35 3.48 3.65 3.88 0.93 0.46 −0.30 −1.00 −1.62 −2.39
1.2 2.81 2.85 2.91 3.01 3.14 3.30 2.88 2.90 2.96 3.05 3.19 3.36 2.61 1.83 1.68 1.44 1.45 1.68
1.4 2.60 2.62 2.67 2.74 2.84 2.96 2.66 2.68 2.72 2.80 2.91 3.04 2.39 2.19 1.99 2.16 2.31 2.78
1.5 2.53 2.55 2.59 2.66 2.75 2.85 2.58 2.60 2.64 2.71 2.81 2.93 2.11 1.85 1.89 1.82 2.02 2.83
1.6 2.47 2.49 2.54 2.60 2.68 2.78 2.52 2.53 2.57 2.63 2.72 2.84 1.97 1.67 1.18 1.31 1.63 2.12
1.8 2.40 2.42 2.46 2.51 2.59 2.67 2.42 2.43 2.47 2.52 2.60 2.70 0.85 0.48 0.21 0.44 0.35 1.11
2.0 2.35 2.37 2.41 2.46 2.53 2.61 2.35 2.36 2.39 2.44 2.51 2.60 0.00 −0.42 −0.83 −0.81 −0.79 −0.38
2.5 2.27 2.29 2.33 2.38 2.44 2.52 2.24 2.25 2.27 2.32 2.37 2.45 −1.23 −1.74 −2.37 −2.70 −2.74 −2.90
3.0 2.20 2.22 2.26 2.31 2.37 2.45 2.18 2.19 2.21 2.25 2.30 2.36 −0.76 −1.33 −2.11 −2.67 −3.00 −3.51
3.5 2.14 2.15 2.19 2.24 2.30 2.38 2.15 2.15 2.17 2.21 2.25 2.31 0.37 0.21 −0.71 −1.44 −2.00 −2.78
4.0 2.07 2.08 2.12 2.17 2.23 2.30 2.13 2.13 2.15 2.18 2.23 2.28 2.66 2.46 1.42 0.52 −0.22 −0.82

Table 3
The elastic buckling coefficients of clamped rectangular plates

a/ h w ANSYS Eq. (4) Error (%)

ss ss ss
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5

1.0 6.90 7.00 7.20 7.48 7.87 8.35 6.85 6.89 7.03 7.25 7.56 7.96 −0.72 −1.57 −2.36 −3.07 −3.94 −4.67
1.2 6.53 6.60 6.76 6.97 7.25 7.59 6.64 6.69 6.82 7.03 7.34 7.72 1.68 1.36 0.89 0.86 1.24 1.71
1.5 6.43 6.50 6.63 6.82 7.05 7.33 6.45 6.50 6.62 6.83 7.13 7.50 0.31 0.00 −0.15 0.15 1.13 2.32
2.0 6.32 6.38 6.52 6.71 6.94 7.22 6.25 6.29 6.41 6.62 6.90 7.27 −1.11 −1.41 −1.69 −1.34 −0.58 0.69
2.5 6.13 6.20 6.33 6.52 6.75 7.02 6.08 6.12 6.24 6.44 6.72 7.07 −0.82 −1.29 −1.42 −1.23 −0.44 0.71
3.0 5.95 6.02 6.15 6.33 6.56 6.83 5.92 5.96 6.07 6.26 6.53 6.88 −0.50 −1.00 −1.30 −1.11 −0.46 0.73
3.5 5.77 5.83 5.96 6.13 6.36 6.62 5.74 5.77 5.89 6.07 6.33 6.67 −0.52 −1.03 −1.17 −0.98 −0.47 0.76
4.0 5.58 5.64 5.76 5.93 6.15 6.41 5.54 5.57 5.68 5.86 6.11 6.44 −0.72 −1.24 −1.39 −1.18 −0.65 0.47

The buckling modes of simply supported and clamped
rectangular plates of a/ h w = 2.0 are illustrated in Fig. 5(a)
and (b) and, obviously, they are in different forms.
3.3. Elastic buckling of webs in I-girders
The model as shown in Fig. 1 is used by Lagerqvist [13]
to analyze buckling behavior of webs in I-girders under
patch loading. The width of applied load is c, and all nodes
in the area where the load is transmitted were controlled to
displace only in the vertical direction, i.e. degrees of freedom
1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 were restrained and only displacement
in direction 2 was allowed. The patch load is transmitted
through the flanges to the edge of webs in I-girders. This
model mixed three different contributions of the flange to
the web buckling, one is that the flange helps to carry part of
the load, the second is that the flange disperses the load to a
greater length of the web edge, and the third is that the flange
provides rotational restraint to the web against buckling.
In order to highlight the rotational restraint provided
by flanges, a different model is used in this paper. The
flanges and the webs were established separately, only
degrees of freedom 1 and 6, i.e. the rotation about the
flange–web juncture line and the out-of-plane displacement,
were coupled between the flanges and the web. The patch
load was applied on nodes at the top edge of the web. The
degrees of freedom 1, 2, 5 of nodes on the left and the right
edges were restrained and the same boundary conditions
were used at the edges of the flange.
The buckling of the webs is postponed because of
existence of the rotational restraint of the flange–web
juncture. The ratio of rotational rigidity of the flange to
bending rigidity of the web is used to consider the elastic
restraints of flanges to webs. This ratio can be defined as
b t3 Etw3 h w
GK
Dhw ,in which GK = 2(1+µ)E
3 and Dhw =
f f
12(1−µ2 )
, after
omitting the constant items we get:
bf tf3
β= . (5)
h w tw3
In order to validate whether the factor β can reflect the
influence from the flanges to shear buckling coefficients
accurately or not, a number of I-girders were analyzed with
ANSYS. The web thicknesses were 4 and 8 mm, the flange
widths were 150, 250 and 400 mm, respectively. The flange
thickness was changed to obtain different β values. The
curves of coefficients obtained from ANSYS versus the
factor β are plotted in Fig. 6.
1532 T. Ren, G.S. Tong / Engineering Structures 27 (2005) 1528–1536
(a) Simply supported rectangular plate.
(b) Clamped rectangular plate.
Fig. 5. The first-order buckling wave modes of single rectangular plates
(ss = 0.2).
As can be seen from Fig. 6, for I-girders with the same
aspect ratio, a/ h w , the elastic buckling coefficients are
almost identical in value as long as the factors β are equal.
Therefore, the factor β can be well used to evaluate the
elastic buckling coefficients of the webs in I-girders.
As the value of β increases from zero, the elastic buckling
coefficient of webs increases from the elastic buckling
coefficient of a simply supported plate, and when β becomes
greater, the elastic buckling coefficients approach the value
of the elastic buckling coefficient of a clamped plate. The
basic expression for elastic buckling coefficients of webs in
I-girders can be obtained based on this phenomenon, i.e.:
kcrs + kcrf β
kcr = . (6)
1+β
The aspect ratio of webs and the width of applied load
are other factors that must to be considered to evaluate
the elastic buckling coefficients of the webs in I-girders.
Because the width of applied load has been considered when
calculating the elastic buckling coefficients of rectangular
plates, namely kcrs and kcrf , we just need to introduce a
factor λ to consider the influence of the aspect ratio. Based
on the analysis results, the following equation is proposed
to determine the elastic buckling coefficients of webs in
Fig. 6. The elastic buckling coefficients of different models versus the factor
β (ss = 0.2).
I-girders under patch loading:
kcrs + kcrf λβ
kcr = (7)
1 + λβ
b t3
in which λ = 0.1 + 0.03a/ h w + (a/1.63h w )2
, β = h f tf3 .
w w
The elastic buckling coefficients for I-girders of different
aspect ratios, different flange thicknesses and widths
obtained from ANSYS and those computed from Eq. (7) are
tabulated in Table 4. It may be seen that Eq. (7) has a good
accuracy.
Fig. 7(a)–(c) shows the first-order buckling mode shapes
of I-girders of a/ h w = 2.0, ss = 0.2, tw = 4 mm, β is 0.25,
6.75 and 128, respectively. It is worth noting that as the value
of β increases, the buckling mode shapes are transformed
from that of simply supported plate to clamped plate.
4. Elastic buckling of webs in I-girders under wheel load
4.1. The distribution of vertical compressive stresses on the
edge of the web plates
According to the authors’ previous work [14], the finite
element analysis revealed that the girder length and the
 T. Ren, G.S. Tong / Engineering Structures 27 (2005) 1528–1536 1533

Table 4
The elastic buckling coefficients of webs in I-girders under patch loading

h w = 1000, ANSYS Eq. (7) Error (%) h w = 1000, ANSYS Eq. (7) Error (%)
tw = 4 tw = 4
bf = 250 bf = 250
ss β a/ h w a/ h w a/ h w ss β a/ h w a/ h w a/ h w
1.0 2.0 4.0 1.0 2.0 4.0 1.0 2.0 4.0 1.0 2.0 4.0 1.0 2.0 4.0 1.0 2.0 4.0

0.00 3.22 2.35 2.07 3.30 2.40 2.18 2.48 2.13 5.31 0.00 3.51 2.46 2.17 3.53 2.49 2.23 0.57 1.22 2.76
0.03 3.43 2.47 2.25 3.48 2.46 2.21 1.40 −0.22 −1.68 0.03 3.75 2.59 2.36 3.72 2.56 2.26 −0.89 −1.19 −4.04
0.25 4.28 2.88 2.56 4.38 2.88 2.43 2.45 −0.06 −5.07 0.25 4.65 3.00 2.66 4.67 3.00 2.50 0.36 0.10 −6.00
1.00 5.64 3.80 3.14 5.56 3.79 3.00 −1.35 −0.16 −4.52 1.00 6.10 3.96 3.26 5.90 3.99 3.11 −3.24 0.64 −4.48
0.0 2.00 6.22 4.49 3.60 6.06 4.45 3.50 −2.50 −0.96 −2.89 0.3 2.00 6.71 4.70 3.75 6.43 4.69 3.65 −4.22 −0.31 −2.62
6.75 6.70 5.57 4.53 6.57 5.45 4.48 −1.87 −2.10 −1.08 6.75 7.25 5.87 4.75 6.96 5.77 4.72 −3.98 −1.79 −0.72
16.00 6.82 5.98 5.03 6.73 5.87 4.99 −1.35 −1.87 −0.72 16.00 7.38 6.32 5.31 7.12 6.21 5.27 −3.49 −1.74 −0.76
54.00 6.88 6.21 5.40 6.81 6.13 5.36 −0.97 −1.32 −0.79 54.00 7.45 6.59 5.72 7.21 6.49 5.66 −3.20 −1.53 −1.00
128.00 6.89 6.27 5.50 6.83 6.20 5.46 −0.81 −1.15 −0.72 128.00 7.47 6.66 5.84 7.23 6.56 5.77 −3.17 −1.44 −1.13
0.00 3.26 2.37 2.08 3.33 2.41 2.18 2.15 1.69 4.81 0.00 3.71 2.53 2.23 3.70 2.56 2.28 −0.27 1.19 2.24
0.03 3.48 2.49 2.27 3.51 2.47 2.21 0.82 −0.60 −2.54 0.03 3.96 2.66 2.42 3.89 2.63 2.32 −1.68 −1.03 −4.27
0.25 4.33 2.90 2.57 4.42 2.89 2.43 2.03 −0.27 −5.35 0.25 4.91 3.08 2.72 4.88 3.10 2.57 −0.62 0.62 −5.69
1.00 5.71 3.82 3.16 5.60 3.81 3.01 −1.92 −0.14 −4.89 1.00 6.41 4.07 3.34 6.16 4.13 3.21 −3.88 1.51 −3.81
0.1 2.00 6.30 4.52 3.62 6.10 4.47 3.51 −3.14 −1.05 −3.10 0.4 2.00 7.06 4.84 3.84 6.71 4.87 3.78 −5.01 0.56 −1.56
6.75 6.79 5.62 4.56 6.61 5.49 4.50 −2.60 −2.37 −1.28 6.75 7.62 6.06 4.89 7.26 6.00 4.90 −4.72 −0.96 0.26
16.00 6.91 6.03 5.08 6.77 5.91 5.02 −2.06 −2.07 −1.21 16.00 7.76 6.53 5.48 7.43 6.47 5.49 −4.28 −0.93 0.13
54.00 6.97 6.28 5.45 6.85 6.17 5.39 −1.68 −1.79 −1.18 54.00 7.83 6.82 5.92 7.52 6.76 5.90 −3.96 −0.84 −0.31
128.00 6.99 6.34 5.56 6.87 6.24 5.49 −1.66 −1.62 −1.26 128.00 7.85 6.89 6.05 7.54 6.84 6.02 −3.91 −0.71 −0.51
0.00 3.36 2.41 2.12 3.40 2.44 2.20 1.19 1.24 3.77 0.00 3.97 2.61 2.30 3.93 2.65 2.33 −1.01 1.53 1.30
0.03 3.59 2.53 2.30 3.58 2.51 2.23 −0.22 −0.93 −2.90 0.03 4.24 2.74 2.50 4.13 2.73 2.37 −2.54 −0.46 −5.23
0.25 4.46 2.94 2.61 4.51 2.93 2.46 1.10 −0.23 −5.78 0.25 5.24 3.18 2.80 5.16 3.22 2.64 −1.45 1.38 −5.85
1.00 5.86 3.88 3.20 5.71 3.88 3.05 −2.48 −0.07 −4.77 1.00 6.82 4.20 3.43 6.50 4.32 3.33 −4.62 2.92 −2.89
0.2 2.00 6.46 4.59 3.67 6.23 4.55 3.56 −3.61 −0.86 −2.92 0.5 2.00 7.50 5.00 3.95 7.07 5.11 3.94 −5.67 2.12 −0.26
6.75 6.97 5.72 4.63 6.75 5.59 4.58 −3.18 −2.30 −1.01 6.75 8.09 6.28 5.06 7.65 6.31 5.14 −5.38 0.54 1.67
16.00 7.10 6.15 5.17 6.91 6.02 5.11 −2.74 −2.18 −1.08 16.00 8.24 6.79 5.70 7.83 6.81 5.77 −4.98 0.32 1.26
54.00 7.17 6.41 5.56 6.99 6.28 5.49 −2.48 −1.96 −1.25 54.00 8.32 7.09 6.17 7.93 7.12 6.22 −4.74 0.48 0.75
128.00 7.18 6.47 5.67 7.01 6.36 5.60 −2.31 −1.76 −1.28 128.00 8.34 7.16 6.30 7.95 7.21 6.34 −4.67 0.66 0.68

web height have negligible effects on the distribution of γ . Eq. (9) indicates that as Ix increases, the factor γ becomes
vertical compressive stresses on the edge of the web plates of smaller, the vertical compressive stresses disperse to a wider
crane runway I-girders. The web thickness and the flexural length along the edge of the web plate. This can be observed
rigidities of the crane rail and the top flange are the most in Fig. 8.
important factors to influence the stress distribution. Eq. (8) Fig. 9 shows a comparison of Eq. (8) and ANSYS, the
was suggested to evaluate the distribution of the vertical cross section of the girder is H800×300×8×16, the member
compressive stresses on the edge of the web plates. length is 2000 mm. The resultant forces P1 can be obtained
P by integrating Eq. (8) over the whole girder length:
σc = σcmax · f (γ , z) =  a/2
2.83 Ix · tw2
3 P
P1 =  e−γ z (sin γ z + cos γ z) dz. (10)
· e−γ z (sin γ z + cos γ z). (8) −a/2 2.83 3
I ·
x wt 2

Here Ix is the sum of the flexural rigidities of crane rail and
the top flange, z is the longitudinal coordinate of I-girders,
whose origin is at the middle of I-girders and γ is given by
2
γ = √ .
2.83 3 Ix /tw
In Eq. (8), σcmax is the maximum vertical compressive
stress on the edge of the web plate and the function
f (γ , z) = e−γ z (sin γ z + cos γ z) determines the distribution
of the stresses along longitudinal axis of I-girders. Fig. 8
shows the stress distributions of girders with different factor
In Fig. 10, the values of P1 /P for 17 I-girders of different
web thicknesses and aspect ratios investigated in [14] are
shown, and they are all close to 1.0. Therefore it may be
concluded that Eq. (8) can be used to simulate the variation
(9) of vertical compressive stresses along the top edge of web
plates.
4.2. Elastic buckling of single rectangular plates
The elastic buckling of single rectangular plates was first
investigated. The discretization of finite elements and the
1534 T. Ren, G.S. Tong / Engineering Structures 27 (2005) 1528–1536

(a) β = 0.25.
Fig. 8. Stress distribution along the top edge of the web plate.

(b) β = 6.75.

Fig. 9. Comparison of Eq. (8) and ANSYS.

(c) β = 128.

Fig. 7. The first-order buckling wave mode of I-girders with different value
of β.
Fig. 10. P1 /P versus web thickness.
loading arrangement are shown in Fig. 11. The loads are
applied on nodes of the top edge of the plate, and their values
are calculated from Eq. (8). The elastic buckling coefficients 0.004–0.010 were analyzed with ANSYS. Based on the
can be obtained by substituting resultant forces into Eq. (1). analysis results, the following equation is proposed to
determine the elastic buckling coefficients of simply
4.2.1. Simply supported rectangular plates supported plates under wheel load:
 
The boundary conditions are the same as in Section 3.1. 1.2 −0.5 γ h w 6.5
The rectangular plates of a/ h w = 1.0–4.0 and γ = ksc = 2.0 + + e 1.5 + . (11)
(a/ h w )2 (a/ h w )2
 T. Ren, G.S. Tong / Engineering Structures 27 (2005) 1528–1536 1535

Table 5
Elastic buckling coefficients of simply supported rectangular plates under wheel load ksc (h w = 800 mm)

a/ h w ANSYS Eq. (11) Error (%)

γ γ γ
0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.010 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.010 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.010

1.0 4.88 4.48 4.14 3.86 3.66 3.41 4.82 4.28 3.93 3.69 3.53 3.35 −1.33 −4.40 −5.18 −4.50 −3.66 −1.86
1.2 4.02 3.65 3.37 3.17 3.03 2.90 4.05 3.65 3.38 3.20 3.08 2.94 0.68 −0.08 0.26 0.92 1.60 1.50
1.4 3.53 3.19 2.95 2.81 2.72 2.65 3.58 3.26 3.05 2.91 2.81 2.70 1.55 2.32 3.36 3.39 3.26 1.90
1.5 3.36 3.03 2.82 2.70 2.63 2.58 3.42 3.13 2.93 2.80 2.71 2.61 1.77 3.21 3.95 3.71 3.13 1.31
1.6 3.23 2.92 2.73 2.62 2.57 2.52 3.28 3.02 2.84 2.71 2.63 2.54 1.68 3.27 3.85 3.60 2.47 0.90
1.8 3.04 2.76 2.60 2.52 2.49 2.45 3.08 2.84 2.69 2.58 2.51 2.43 1.26 3.08 3.40 2.52 0.94 −0.63
2.0 2.91 2.66 2.53 2.47 2.44 2.40 2.93 2.72 2.58 2.49 2.43 2.36 0.72 2.37 2.11 0.81 −0.52 −1.78
2.5 2.72 2.53 2.44 2.39 2.36 2.32 2.70 2.54 2.42 2.35 2.30 2.24 −0.56 0.23 −0.72 −1.82 −2.73 −3.51
3.0 2.62 2.47 2.38 2.33 2.29 2.25 2.58 2.43 2.33 2.27 2.22 2.17 −1.45 −1.45 −1.89 −2.64 −2.89 −3.38
3.5 2.54 2.40 2.31 2.26 2.22 2.18 2.51 2.37 2.28 2.22 2.18 2.14 −1.26 −1.13 −1.20 −1.71 −1.77 −2.06
4.0 2.47 2.33 2.24 2.19 2.16 2.12 2.46 2.33 2.25 2.19 2.15 2.11 −0.41 0.13 0.35 0.04 −0.34 −0.48

Table 6
Elastic buckling coefficients of clamped rectangular plates under wheel load kfc (h w = 800 mm)

a/ h w ANSYS Eq. (12) Error (%)

γ γ γ
0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.010 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.010 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.010

1.0 9.94 9.17 8.52 8.00 7.60 7.13 9.43 8.74 8.28 7.95 7.70 7.35 −5.10 −4.69 −2.84 −0.65 1.32 3.14
1.2 8.98 8.20 7.61 7.18 6.89 6.62 8.90 8.24 7.81 7.50 7.26 6.94 −0.91 0.54 2.60 4.41 5.42 4.78
1.4 8.58 7.78 7.23 6.88 6.68 6.51 8.55 7.92 7.51 7.21 6.98 6.67 −0.31 1.86 3.81 4.74 4.52 2.42
1.5 8.47 7.66 7.13 6.82 6.65 6.50 8.42 7.80 7.39 7.10 6.87 6.56 −0.58 1.86 3.64 4.03 3.37 0.99
1.6 8.39 7.58 7.07 6.79 6.63 6.50 8.31 7.70 7.29 7.00 6.78 6.48 −0.99 1.54 3.10 3.07 2.27 −0.38
1.8 8.25 7.44 6.97 6.73 6.60 6.46 8.11 7.52 7.12 6.84 6.62 6.33 −1.64 1.05 2.16 1.59 0.36 −2.08
2.0 8.08 7.28 6.87 6.65 6.52 6.38 7.95 7.37 6.98 6.70 6.49 6.20 −1.56 1.22 1.59 0.77 −0.42 −2.82
2.5 7.58 6.92 6.59 6.40 6.27 6.11 7.61 7.05 6.68 6.41 6.21 5.93 0.43 1.93 1.37 0.22 −0.89 −2.87
3.0 7.15 6.61 6.31 6.12 5.98 5.83 7.30 6.76 6.40 6.15 5.96 5.69 2.04 2.27 1.46 0.44 −0.41 −2.45
3.5 6.73 6.28 5.99 5.81 5.68 5.53 6.97 6.46 6.11 5.87 5.69 5.43 3.53 2.79 2.07 1.04 0.13 −1.78
4.0 6.39 5.91 5.65 5.48 5.37 5.23 6.61 6.13 5.80 5.57 5.40 5.15 3.48 3.67 2.70 1.67 0.52 −1.44

coefficients of clamped plates under wheel load:

 
1.45
kfc = 0.78 +
γ hw
  2 
a 1.32
× 6.4 − 0.07 + . (12)
hw (a/ h w )2
In Table 6, Eq. (12) is compared with ANSYS and the errors
are again very small.

4.3. Elastic buckling coefficients of web plates in I-girders

Fig. 11. The finite element model of rectangular plate under wheel load.

As discussed previously, the wheel load can be simulated

In Table 5, elastic buckling coefficients calculated from
Eq. (11) are compared with those from ANSYS and the
errors are within 5%.
4.2.2. Clamped rectangular plates
The boundary conditions are the same as in Section 3.2.
The rectangular plates of a/ h w = 1.0–4.0 and γ =
0.004–0.010 were analyzed with ANSYS. The following
equation is proposed to determine the elastic buckling
by applying node loads in the form of Eq. (8) on the top
edge of web plates in I-girders. Therefore, considering the
rotational restraint provided by the top flange and crane rail,
the same method as that in Section 3.3 was used to analyze
the buckling of web plates in I-girders under wheel load.
The buckling analysis was carried out to investigate
almost 800 I-girders with web thickness of tw = 8 mm,
flange thicknesses of tf = 1–196 mm, web plate aspect ratio
of a/ h w = 1.0–4.0 and load factor of γ = 0.004–0.010.
1536 T. Ren, G.S. Tong / Engineering Structures 27 (2005) 1528–1536
(a) γ = 0.006.
(b) γ = 0.008.
Fig. 12. Elastic buckling coefficients of web plates in I-girders under wheel
load kcrc .
The resulting data of the representative series of γ = 0.003
and 0.008 are plotted in Fig. 12.
Introducing a factor λc to take the influence of the web
plate aspect ratios into account, the following equation is
proposed to determine the elastic buckling coefficients of
web plates in I-girders under wheel loads:
ksc + kfc λc β
kcrc = (13)
1 + λc β
a/ h w b t3
where λc = 4.25a/ h w −3.92 , β = h w tw3 , k sc and k fc are
f f
the elastic buckling coefficients of simply supported and
clamped plates given by Eqs. (11) and (12).
The elastic buckling coefficients of the models with γ =
0.006 and 0.008 computed by Eq. (13) are shown in Fig. 12.
It can be seen that the Eq. (13) has good accuracy and it
can be well used to evaluate the elastic buckling coefficients
of web plates with aspect ratio a/ h w < 2.0, which are
frequently used in practice engineering.
5. Conclusion
New investigation has been carried out to simulate the
realistic load and the restraining conditions of the webs
in I-girders. The buckling of a large number of models
under patch load was analyzed with ANSYS and formulae
were proposed to predict the elastic buckling coefficients of
web plates in I-girders. The rotational restraints provided
to the web by the flanges are considered accurately in the
suggested formulae.
The wheel load is another kind of patch load rarely
touched in the literature. According to the authors’ previous
work, the bearing stresses on the top edge of the web plates
in I-girders where the effect of the crane rail rigidity is
considered can be determined by a simple model. Based on
this model, the buckling of the web plate is analyzed and
formulae with excellent accuracy were suggested to predict
the buckling load.
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