J. Construct.

Steel Research 4 ( 1984) 295-315

Failure M o d e s for Castellated B e a m s

D. Kerdal* and D. A. Nethercott

*Department of Civil Engineering, Universityof Science and Technology, Oran, Algeria
tDepartment of Civil and Structural Engineering, Universityof Sheffield, UK

SYNOPSIS

Previous studies of the structural behaviour of castellated beams are

reviewed and a number of different possible failure modes identified.
Several of these do not occur with plain webbed beams since they are a
direct result of the different way in which shear is transferred through the
perforated web. Examples are a Vierendeel mechanism, web post
buckling due to shear and web weld rupture. Failure by either the for-
mation of a flexural mechanism or by lateral-torsional instability are
essentially similar to the equivalent modes for solid web beams. Methods
for predicting the loads at which each of these types of failure occurs are
evaluated against the available experimental data and the limitations in a
number of these analytical approaches is discussed. It is concluded that
both lateral-torsional instability and the formation of a flexural mechan-
ism may be handled by an adaptation of established methods for plain
webbed beams, providing the cross-sectional properties are those corre-
sponding to the centreline of a castellation. Currently available methods
for the determination of collapse in the other modes, while rather less
accurate, are adequate for design except in the case of web post buckling
due to compression.

1 INTRODUCTION

Castellated beams are normally produced by automatically cutting and

welding standard rolled I-sections as illustrated in Fig. 1. Since the depth
is increased by approximately 50% (more if plates are inserted between
295
J. Construct. Steel Research 0143-974X/84/$03.00 © Elsevier Applied Science Publishers
Ltd, England, 1984. Printed in Great Britain
296 D. Kerdal, D. A. Nethercot

Q)

b~

¢)

Fig. 1. Castellated beam. (a) Burning pattern (b) castellated beam formed (c) castellated
beam with increment plates.

the two halves as shown in Fig. lc) the resulting cross section has a greater
vertical bending stiffness. However, the presence of the holes in the web
means that the beam's structural behaviour will be different in a number
of respects from that of plain webbed beams. These differences must be
properly appreciated and allowed for by the structural designer wishing to
utilise the benefits offered by castellated sections, e.g. automatic pro-
vision for passage of services, attractive appearance, ability to span
further than rolled sections, etc. The presence of the web holes not only
alters the relative importance of different possible modes of failure, it also
introduces the possibility of new modes. It is the purpose of this paper to
review previous studies of the structural behaviour of castellated beams
with the specific aim of identifying the various failure modes and, where
 Failure modes for castellated beams 297

possible, making recommendations for the most suitable method of

designing against each possibility.
Finally, although the subject of composite action between a castellated
beam and a concrete slab will not be treated here, it is worth pointing out
that it has been shown by Larnach and Park' and by Halleux 2 that this is
broadly similar in operation to conventional composite construction
using plain webbed beams.
The presence of regtilarly spaced web holes means that the beam
effectively behaves like an assembly of individual structural components,
e.g. the vertical web posts comprising the material remaining between the
holes and the horizontal chord members consisting of the tee-section

I
l

Fig. 2. Distributionof shear force.

spanning between the holes. In particular, at a hole cross section i.e.

between web posts, shear must be transferred by bending of the tee-
section formed by the flange and the remaining part of the web adjacent
to the flange. These factors have led to the adoption of a Vierendeel
analogy in which the castellated beam is treated as an equivalent
Vierendeel girder for the purpose of determining stresses in the various
regions. ~-7 The 'structure' may be rendered statically determinate by
assuming points of inflection at the middle of each 'member' (chord and
web). A further assumption is that the external shear force, which is
divided equally between the upper and lower chords, acts at the points of
contraflexure as shown in Fig. 2. However, this method does contain
certain limitations. ~-,0
The need to treat castellated beams as 'structures' for the purpose of
determining the distribution of internal forces emerged from a number of
298 D. Kerdal, D. A. Nethercot

experimental programmes in which the test arrangement was designed to

ensure that only an in-plane response of the beam was possible. Such
experiments showed that if the beam was to reach its maximum in-plane
carrying capacity the component parts had to behave in a satisfactory
fashion. Thus the strength of each component had to be checked and the
various methods that have been proposed will be discussed fully in the
later sections of this paper.
When castellated beams are not laterally restrained, it is, of course,
necessary to consider lateral-torsional instability as a potential mode of
failure. The work reported herein was undertaken largely as a pre-
liminary to an investigation of this problem by the authors, tt,12Because of
the need to ensure that failure of the test specimens actually occurred by
lateral-torsional instability, it was necessary to give careful consideration
to all other possible modes of failure.

2 F A I L U R E MODES F O R C A S T E L L A T E D BEAMS

Experimental studies on castellated beams have shown that the mode of

failure depends principally upon the beam slenderness, the geometry of
the cut (height, breadth and spacing of the holes) and the type of loading.
Assuming adequate lateral support and applied loading producing both
m o m e n t and shear, collapse is likely to occur by either:
(a) Formation of a Vierendeel mechanism (Fig. 3).
(b) Lateral-torsional buckling of one or several web posts (Fig. 4).
(c) Rupture of a welded joint in a web post (Fig. 5). In a span subjected
to approximately uniform moment, two failure modes, which are
similar to those of equivalent plain webbed beams, have been
observed.
(d) Lateral-torsional buckling of an entire span (Fig. 6).
(e) Formation of a flexure mechanism (hinge) (Fig. 7).
The last possibility occurs either at a reaction point or in the vicinity of a
concentrated load where
(f) The web post may buckle (Fig. 8).
Table I gives a list of all known test programmes and the failure modes
recorded. In some cases failure was due to a combination of several
 (a)

mi~A I IIIIIII I I -- ~

Fag. 3. Vierendeel mechanism (Reference 18). (a) Overall view (b) close-up view of
castellation.

' r ~ . . . . . -- . . . . . Ii

l ~ . 4. Lateral-torsional buckling of a web post (Reference 19).

 300 D. Kerdal, D. A. Nethercot

Fig. 5. Rupture of a welded joint (Reference 5).

b ~i~ ~i/!!~!!ii

Fig. 6. Lateral-torsional buckling of an entire span (Reference 11). (a) Beams $5-1 and
$6-2 after test (b) beams M4-2 and MS-1 after test (c) beams L4-1, IA-2, L5-3 and L6-4
after test.
 Failure modes for castellated beams 301

Fig. 7. Flexure mechanism (Reference 18).

Fig. 8. Buckling of web post due to compression (Reference 19).

modes and the ones which did not seem to be the most dominant are given
in brackets in the table.
T h e structural behaviour of castellated beams will now be discussed
firstly on the basis of the modes of failure which are common to plain
webbed beams and secondly on the basis of those which are unique to
castellated beams.
302 D. Kerdal, D. A. Nethercot

TABLE 1
Causes of Failure in the Various Experimental Programmes

Tests Shear Web Compression

to Vierendeel web post weld Lateral-torsional Flexure web post
hers. failure mechanism buckling failure buckling failure buckling

3 3 1 2
4 9 4 4 2 (+4) (+1)
6 7 5 2 (+2)
7 6
8 1 1 (+1)
11, 12 8 8 (+2)
13 6 1 (+1)
14 5 3 2 (+1)
15 1
16 5 (+3) 3
17 7 3 1 3
18 12 5 2 5
19 10 3 (+1) (+2) 4 (+1) 3 (+ 1)
20 4 4 4
21 2 1 1 (+1) (+1)
22 4 2 2
27 4 4

3 FAILURE MECHANISM DUE TO BENDING MOMENT

T h e failure mechanism due to bending, also called the flexure mechan-

ism, was conceptualised by Halleux 18who was the first to introduce plastic
theory for the analysis of the behaviour of castellated beams. H o w e v e r ,
an earlier description of the sequence of yielding leading to this failure
mechanism was given by Toprac and C o o k e ? They described how, in the
span s u b j e c t e d to pure bending moment, the tee-sections above and
b e l o w the holes yielded in a manner similar to that of a plain w e b b e d
b e a m , although the spread of yield towards the central axis was stopped
by the presence of the holes by which time the two throat sections had
b e c o m e completely plastic in compression and in tension. In contrast to
the specimens tested by Halleux, TM which were fully braced and failed
because of the excessive deflection caused by the hinge, the discretely
b r a c e d b e a m s tested by Toprac and C o o k e 4 failed by lateral-torsional
 Failure modes for castellated beams 303

buckling after developing a hinge. Similar behaviour to that reported in

Reference 18 was observed by Hosain and Speirs ~9in the case of four
beams, while two beams of References 11 and 12 failed as described in
Reference 4.
The maximum in-plane carrying capacity, Mp, of a castellated beam
under pure m o m e n t loading is therefore equal to the plastic m o m e n t of a
section taken through the vertical centreline of a hole. It is

M p = ShXpy (1)

where Sh is the plastic modulus of the section at a hole and py is the

nominal yield stress of the beam. This is further confirmed in Table 2
which compares values of in-plane moment capacities calculated at a
cross section through a hole and through the solid web post for some of
t he castellated be ams which failed in a flexure mechanism. 4.11.~3.14.17.1s.19The
table shows that the mean ratio of the experimental m o m e n t (Moxp) to the
maximum in-plane carrying capacity (Mp), which is slightly higher than
1.0 for a cross section at a hole, drops to about 0.8 if a web post cross
section is considered.

4 F A I L U R E D U E TO L A T E R A L - T O R S I O N A L B U C K L I N G

A recent investigation by the authors "'12 has shown that the lateral-
torsional buckling behaviour of castellated beams is similar to that of
plain webbed beams. The eight tests carded out on British castellated
beams plus the preliminary investigation on small-scale specimens failed
to show that the holes had a significant influence on lateral-torsional
buckling behaviour. All the buckled spans exhibited the same laterally
buckled configuration consisting of a smooth continuous profile and no
distortion of the web posts was observed.
The main conclusion that emerged was that the provisions made in
national codes of practice, and in particular the British Draft Code B/2023
for determining the lateral buckling strength of plain webbed beams
could be used for castellated beams providing the cross-sectional
properties are calculated for a cross section at the centreline of a castel-
lation. If the design curve for rolled sections given in clause 6.3 of B/20 is
used, the strength of a castellated beam is calculated as a buckling
resistance m o m e n t Mb which is a proportion of the full in-plane strength
 TABLE 2
In-plane Moment Capacity of Beams Which Failed in a Flexural Mode

Mpghote) Mptweb) Mexp Mexp Mex,

Section R* x lOSNmm x lOSNmm x lOSNmm Mptholej Mp(webJ

266.7 x 101.6 × 5.1 x 4.6 1.33 0.53 0-60 0.50 0.95 0-83
297.9 x 100.3 x 5.1 x 4-8 1.50 0.56 0.72 0.58 1-03 0.81
297-2 x 99.1 x 5.1 x 4-7 1-50 0-58 0.71 0.57 0-99 0.81
295.9 x 100.3 x 5.2 x 4-4 1.50 0.59 0.72 0.61 1.02 0.84

500x135x10-2×6-6 1-85 2,43 2-98 2.62 1.08 0.88

500x135x10-2x5.5 1.85 2-46 3-02 2.52 1.03 0.83
e,

457.2x127x12.9×8-5 1.50 2.21 2.68 2.26 1-02 0.84

~5.5xI43.7×ll-lx7-2 1-50 3.53 4-37 3.49 0-99 0.80

11, 12
524.5×124-5x10-6x7-0 1-50 2.52 3.14 2.52 1-00 0-80

13 266-7 x 101.6 x 9.8 x 6-3 1.50 0-82 0-96 0.85 1.04 0-88 ,3

14 342.9x101.6xll-6x7-6 1.50 1-17 1.40 1.15 0-99 0.82

228-6×76.2x9.6x5.8 1.50 0.54 0.63 0.59 1-10 0.85

17 228.6x76.2x9-6x5.8 1.50 0-54 0.63 0.58 1.08 0-92
228.6x76.2x9-6x5-8 1.50 0-54 0-63 0.61 1.14 0-97

381 x 101.6 x 7.6 × 5-1 1-50 1.12 1.42 1.12 1.00 0.79
19
381 x 101.6 x 7-6 x 5.1 1.50 1.50 1.87 1.58 1-10 0.85

*R = expansion ratio (final depth/original depth)

 Failure modes for castellated beams 305

Mp that can be developed (Mp is calculated for a section at a hole). The

design strength of the beams is given in terms of a beam slenderness,
'kLT = X/'(~ 2E/py)XLT, where XLT = N/(Mp/ME) and ME is the elastic
critical m o m e n t .
A review of the literature carried out during the investigation showed
that in addition to the eight beams tested in Reference 12 several tests had
observed lateral-torsional buckling after attainment of the maximum
in-plane carrying capacity Mp in all cases but o n e . 4'6"8'13'14'21 These test

12

M/Mp
oI- Ref
08 a /.
v 6
~. 8
x 11-12
06
+ 13
= 1,'
• 21
0"

O;

i i i L i i L i I i i i i i
0
0 20 ~0 60 BO 100 120 140
XLT

Fig. 9. Comparison of test data with B/20 proposals for solid web beams having the
properties of the hole cross section (Py = 280 N mm -2).

results have been plotted against the B/20 design curve in Fig. 9. All the
points but one plot above the design curve with the underprediction
ranging from a few per cent at low slenderness to about 40% at high
slenderness. When the same points are plotted in Fig. 10 against the
design curve r e c o m m e n d e d in clause R.6.1.2.13 of the European Recom-
mendations, 24 it is found that the test results are considerably over-
predicted in the inelastic range of slenderness. Because the E u r o p e a n
buckling resistance m o m e n t , which is calculated from the expression
Mb = M~[1/(1 + X2~]~/" where n is taken equal to 2-5 for rolled sections,
overpredicts the test results, it has been suggested 25that a better fit to the
experimental results can be obtained if n is reduced to 1-5.
306 D. Kerdal, D. A. Nethercot

1.2

M/Mp v

1"0

Ref. "~ ~.
08

0"6 ~ 1 12
+ 13 - ~ . ~ ""
Q 1/.
• 21
0/.
- - B/20
----ECCS (n= 2.5)
0"2 .... ECCS In= 1"5)

I i i i i i i i i i i I

0.2 o.,- 0.6 08 1-o 12 1~

JMp/ME

Fig. 10. Comparison of test data with ECCS designcurves for rolled sections.

5 F A I L U R E BY F O R M A T I O N OF A V I E R E N D E E L
MECHANISM

This m o d e of failure is dependent on the presence of a shear force of high

magnitude in the span under consideration. Figures 3 and 11 show that
plastic hinges form at the comers of the holes and that the openings
deform in the manner of a parallelogram. 3,4,18,19,20,21,22The distortion of the
panels is most clearly visible just outside the loading point in the region of
varying m o m e n t . However, Halleux ~8reported that plastic hinges also
formed at the comers of the other holes in the span although the dis-
tortion of the panels was not so pronounced. It is at these points that the
secondary bending moments due to the shear force acting at the point of
contraflexure have their maximum values.

1 IP x

! m_J

Fig. 11. Vierendeel mechanism (or shear force mechanism).

 Failure modes for castellated beams 307

This mechanism was first reported by Altfillisch et al. 3 and by Toprac

and Cooke. 4 Halleux18 then identified the mechanism and proposed a
method for the calculation of the failure load. However, because he
neglected the effects of the axial and shear forces on the plastic moment
capacity of the tee-section, the actual failure load will always be over-
estimated when the ratios N/Np and r/Ty are higher than 0.15 and 0.5
respectively (N and r are the axial force and shear force acting on the
tee-sections and N o and ~-yare their ultimate values).
Inclusion of the axial force was considered by Hope and Sheikh 26who
assumed that the effect of strain-hardening would cancel the effect of
shear. Basically, the capacity of the tee-section at the critical section
outside the loading point is determined by plotting its interaction curve.
This is obtained by varying the location of the neutral axis and plotting the
resulting values of moment and normal forces. Hope and Sheikh and later
Hosain and Speirs ~9found good agreement between experimental and
theoretical loads. Unfortunately the calculations need to be done on a
computer. 27The method was used to predict that two of the beams used in
the authors' experimental programme t2 could develop a Vierendeel
mechanism (Table 3). The table also shows the high values reached by the
ratio (N/Np). This was confirmed during the tests when the two beams
showed signs of local buckling just outside a loading joint. However, the
lateral-torsional buckling failure of the adjacent span had prevented the
mechanism from fully forming. This behaviour was similar to that
reported in References 3, 4 and 19 which described the sequence of
yielding shown in Fig. 11. It has also been reported by Kolosowski 2~in a
recent investigation conducted for Constrado that a large British castel-
lated beam under four-point loading showed the preliminary signs of a
Vierendeel mechanism before failing by lateral-torsional buckling
(Table 3).

TABLE 3
Comparison of ExperimentalLoadswith PredictedLoads for the VierendeelMechanism
Failure Mode

V~p Vpred
Refs. Section (kN) (kN) N/Np

11, 12 605.5 x 143.7 x 11.1 x 7-2 199-7 165.0 0-84

11, 12 524.5 x 124.5 x 10.6 x 7.0 146-6 126-0 0.86
21 906.8 x 227.6 x 14.6 x 10-1 418.0 398.0 0.82
308 D. Kerdal, D. A. Nethercot

Finally, the effects of axial and shear force were included in a later
investigation. 22 Here, the shear force and normal force were assumed to
be distributed over the tee-section in such a manner that the minimum
reduction in moment is caused. Various subdivisions of the tee-section
were offered depending on whether the normal force could be resisted by
the parts of the tee-section allocated for this purpose. However, a large
number of calculations is needed to obtain the maximum load.
From the study of the geometrical properties of the castellated beams
which failed due to the formation of a Vierendeel mechanism it can be
said that this type of mechanism is more likely to develop in beams with
some combination of a short span, a long weld and a shallow tee-section.
When the length of the welded joint decreases, so does the magnitude of
the secondary bending moment and the stresses become closer to those
produced in a full bending situation. Short spans carry a higher allowable
load and shear can become the dominant force. These qualitative
definitions can be better appreciated when the ratios R = De~D, x/Dc and
n/m, which describe the geometry of a hole, are studied in the case of the
beams reported to have failed in a Vierendeel mechanism (the dimen-
sions D, De, x, n and m are identified in Figs 1 and 11). The values of the
ratios of these beams are compared in Table 4 with the standard values
used for all British sections.

TABLE 4
Values of the Various Ratios Describing the Geometry of the Holes in the Beams Which
Failed by the Formation of a Vierendeel Mechanism Compared With Equivalent Values
for Standard British Sections

No. Ref. Beam R = Dc/D x/Dc n/m

1 3 C 1.67 0.108 0.177

2 4 E 1.67 0-100 0.100
3 4 G 1.67 0.100 0.183
4 4 I 1.78 0-063 0.100
5 18 1-A 1-66 0.100 0.330
6 18 1-B 1.66 0-100 0-330
7 19 A1 1.50 0:167 0.283
8 19 A2 1"50 0"167 0"283
9 19 B1 1"50 0"167 0"283
10 19 B3 1"50 0"167 0"283

Standard British sections 1.50 0.164 0.232

 Failure modes for castellated beams 309

This table shows that beams 1-6 had very shallow tee-sections, the
ratios of x/D~ lying between 0.063 and 0.10 compared with 0-164 for a
British section. Although the value of the ratio x/D~ for beams 7-10 was
nearly equal to that of a British section, the length of the welded joint was
much longer (n/m = 0.283 and 0.317). Only three cases of a fully
developed Vierendeel mechanism in a British castellated section have
been observed, ~7but the length of these beams was only 1.32 m, thereby
implying very high shear forces.
Further confirmation of the importance of the ratio x/D~ can be
obtained from the two series of three beams tested by Halleux. ~ The pitch
of castellation of the second series was one-third longer than that of the
first while the ratio x/D¢ was equal to 0.10, 0.18 and 0-289 respectively for
each beam of the two series. Both beams with an x/Dc ratio of 0. l0 failed
when a Vierendeel mechanism formed. Of the two beams with an x/D~
ratio of 0.18, one developed a hinge while the other with a longer throat
failed in a Vierendeel mechanism. Finally the last two beams, which had
deep tee-sections both failed in a flexural mechanism.

6 A D D I T I O N A L FAILURE MODES D U E TO THE

SHEAR FORCE

The assumed force distribution in a panel arising from the Vierendeel

analogy was shown in Fig. 2. If half the panel is considered (see Fig. 12),
then a horizontal force F is needed along the welded joint in order to
balance the shear forces applied at the points of contraflexure. 3.4.18.22.28The
vertical shear forces are equal and Fcan be expressed as

Vxm
F - - - (2)
Dc-2yt

The average shear stress along the panel becomes

Vxm
7= (3)
n x w x (De- 2yt)

In the case of British beams eqns 2 and 3 become

1.08 x D , x V 4x31x V
F = D , - 2yt and ~" = (4)
w x (D, - 2yt)
310 D. Kerdal, D. A. Nethercot

v/2 I - lyt -- 'Iv/2 q- -,',

v/2t I v/'{;~
l~g. 12. Web buckling due to shear.

where V is the shear force in the span, Dc is the depth of the section, D, is
the serial height of the original U.B. section, y, is the depth of the neutral
axis of the tee-section, and w is the thickness of the web.
The force Facting along the weld has two effects on the web post. It can
either cause rupture of the welded joint or lateral buckling of the web
post.

6.1 Rupture of the welded joint

Rupture of the welded joint can occur if the length of the weld is
shortened in order to reduce the magnitude of the secondary m o m e n t in
the tee-sections. Hosain and Speirs, 7 who analysed this mode of failure,
tested six beams, which because they were deliberately fabricated with
short welded joints (n/m = 0.174 and 0.204), failed by rupture of the
weld. In the case of British castellated sections the value of the ratio n/m is
equal to 0.232, thus making them less prone to fail by rupture of the
welded joint. However, there is one case of a British section which failed
due to the shearing failure of the welded joint. 13 Although this was
reported as the cause of failure, a photograph of the beam showed
extensive lateral buckling of the top flange as well. The shear stresses in
the weld calculated by using the statical analysis described above were
equal to 285 N mm-2 which was of the same order of magnitude as those
calculated by Galambos et al. 20Furthermore in all the cases reported, the
beams reached their maximum carrying capacity Mp. Similar calculations
carried out for the two short beams used in the authors' investigation
showed that the value of shear stresses in the weld only reached about
py/x//3, i.e. the shear yield stress, and no rupture of the weld was
 Failure modes for castellated beams 311

observed. The same conclusions applied to the beams of Reference 4

which had very short welded joints (see Table 4), although extensive
yielding was reported to have occurred around the weld in four beams.
Therefore rupture of the welded joint will be more likely to occur if the
shear stresses in the weld are allowed to reach the value of the yield stress
of the material. It is necessary however to point OUt that the welded joints
of the six beams tested in Reference 7 were ground down (see Fig. 5) so
that unlike the beams used in other programmes ~2't3 and normal
commercially-available castellated beams, the thicknesses of all the joints
were identical to those of the web posts.

6.2 Web post buckling

The shear force F acting along the welded joint will stress the web post in
bending. Edge AB in Fig. 12 will be stressed in tension while edge CD,
which is stressed in compression, can cause the web post to buckle. This
lateral displacement of the web post will be accompanied by twisting of
the diagonal line XX', as shown in Fig. 12.
Several cases of beams failing by buckling of the web post due to shear
have been reported in the literature. 6,14,17.18.21.22All the beams except two
reached their maximum in-plane carrying capacity, the buckling of the
web post usually triggering the unloading of the beams. It is to be noted
that in most cases all the web posts in a span under a shear force of
constant magnitude could buckle more or less simultaneously. The two
beams which managed to attain only 92% and 80% of Mpwere made from
British castellated joist sections 381 x 203.2 x 19-9 x 10.2 and
342-9 x 177.8 x 21.0 x 10.2.14 These sections are uncharacteristic of
those usually used as they had very wide and thick flanges.
Several methods have been proposed for predicting the value of the
shear force which would cause web post buckling. Delesques 2s investi-
gated the stability of the web post by assuming indefinite elastic behaviour
and concluded that elastic buckling was unlikely to occur. Blodgett 29also
presented an elastic analysis which treated the beams as tapered beams.
His method, which used an AISC lateral-torsional buckling formula for
beams, becomes extremely conservative as the slenderness of the web
posts increases. Safety factors of 3.71 and 1-65 were calculated by Hosain
and Speirs ~9for the two beams which they reported to have developed
web post buckling. Then, Aglan and Redwood, 3° who analysed the
312 D. Kerdal, D. A. Nethercot

problem by using a finite difference approximation for an ideally elastic-

plastic-hardening material, confirmed that the web posts would be at an
advanced stage of yielding before they would buckle. Although the model
they used assumed the buckling of the vertical centreline of the web posts
instead of that of the diagonal line, the design curves they provided,
which related the initial loads to the geometry of the web posts appear
to give reasonable results. When the method was used to calculate
the theoretical failure loads of the two British sections tested by
Kolosowski, 2~ it was found to underpredict the actual failure loads by
about 10%.
From the graphs provided, a formula can be derived for the calculation
of the shear force along the sidespan of a British castellated beam under
four-point loading. It can be taken as

V = 0"274x w x p y ( D
--~¢ - y t ) - ~ 0 . 2 7 4 × W × p y ( ~ - ~ ¢ - I - 5 X T ) (5)

where T is the thickness of the flange.

This formula is only valid for British castellated sections and can only
be taken as an indication of the magnitude of the failure load.

7 WEB POST B U C K L I N G D U E TO C O M P R E S S I O N

This type of failure is similar to the crippling of the web in a plain webbed
beam. In contrast to the buckling of the web post due to shear, the lateral
displacement of the web post caused by compression is not accompanied
by twisting. Several beams failed because of the buckling of the web post
under a concentrated load or at a reaction point. 4'13AS't6A9In all these cases
no stiffeners or only partial stiffening was used. Buckling of the web posts
prevented all the beams except those of References 4 and 11 from
reaching their maximum in-plane carrying capacity. However, it is not
possible to calculate precisely the load which would cause web buckling.
It was suggested very early 13that the web post could be considered to be a
column having the depth of the hole and the area of the welded joint.
However, there does not seem to be any agreement as to which effective
length of the column to use. An effective length factor of 0.75 was used in
Reference 13. This was later reduced to 0-5 in Reference 15. Finally,
Hosain and Speirs 19 assumed the web posts to be pinned at both ends.
 Failure modes for castellatedbeams 313

This is an area of uncertainty in the design of castellated beams and there

is a need to obtain a better idea as to what is the effective area of the
column and its effective length.

CONCLUSIONS

The various possible forms of collapse for castellated beams have been
described. With one exception, it appears to be possible to predict these
with reasonable accuracy and, in all but one case, using relatively simple
methods. Thus the designer wishing to assess the strength of a castellated
beam should take note of the following:
1. When the critical span is subjected to an approximately uniform
m o m e n t collapse is likely to occur either by lateral-torsional
instability in the case of unbraced beams or by the formation of a
flexural mechanism for laterally restrained beams. In both cases the
appropriate loads may be determined using only a slightly modified
version of the methods used to treat the equivalent forms of failure
for plain webbed beams. In particular, the provisions given in the
draft steel code or in other national codes of practice should be
adequate, providing the cross-sectional properties at the centre of a
castellation are used.
2. When shear is the dominant load in a span it will usually be possible
to determine reasonable estimates of the strengths corresponding to
any of the three special failure modes which occur with castellated
beams. However, while the collapse load due to either lateral-
torsional buckling of the web posts or to rupture of the welded joint
is relatively easy to calculate, the prediction of the load at which a
Vierendeel mechanism forms is most readily obtained using a small
computer program.
3. No satisfactory method has been identified for the prediction of the
load causing vertical buckling of the web post under a concentrated
load or at a reaction point.

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314 D. Kerdal, D. A. Nethercot

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Contributions discussing this paper should be received by the Editor before

1 February 1985.