Some material savings can be achieved when adopting a

limited capacity beam , strengthened by two cover plates to

flanges in zones of higher bending requirements.
Ap
tp

w
d x x

tp
Strength due to cover plate
Capacity of W-shape
M-diag.
Length of
cover plate
B-36
  d tp 
Z x  Z x  2 A p     Z x  Ap (d  t p ) Ap
(Beam) 2 2  tp

or Z x  Z x  Ap  d (tp is small)
Z -Z d x x
 Ap  x x
d
required Z x  Z x of beam
 tp
d
Select width of cover platte (bp ) less than b f
 Ap 
(for full welding), then  t p  
 b 
 p 

After plate thickness and width are determined,

the plate length is determined from the B.M. diagram. B-37
Example B – 12
For the simple beam shown, design the beam utilizing
W 18x46 which is available in stack, Fy = 36 ksi DL = 1.2 k/ft
Assume full lateral bracing (Lb = 0). LL = 2.8 k/ft

Solution 20 ft

Factored load w ul2 5.92x(20) 2

Mmax    296 k  ft.
Wu = 1.2 D.L. + 1.6 L.L. 8 8
w uL 20
= 1.2 x 1.2 + 1.6 x 2.8 = 5.92 k/ft. Vmax   5.92   59.2 k.
2 2
Selection is compact, thus Mn  Mp  Z xFy
Mu 296  12
 (Z x )req.    109.6 in3
φbFy 0.9  36
(Zx) available  90.7 in3  (Z x )req.
B-38
 Z req.  Z ava. 109.6  90.7
Ap    1.1 in2
d 18.06
5
say A p  1.2 in2 bp  4 in tp  in
16
 18.06 0.3125 
Actual Z x  90.7  2 x 1.25   
 2 2 
= 90.7 + 23 = 113.7 in3 > 109.6 in3 O.K.

Shear strength of w 18  46 v Vn = 176kips

v Vn > Vu = 59.2k OK

Length of Cover Plates:

Moment capacity of beam = b Mp = 0.9  90.7  36/12 = 245 k·ft.
B-39
Development , length.
Need extra length to develop the strength of the plate, This extra length
at each end is called “development length”. This should be added to the
theatrical length to get the actual length..
 Minimum extra length at each end = 2  width of plate
(twice width)
2 42
In this example, need total length  8.3   9.05
12
Use 9'- 4" length plate 5
16
5

5'- 4" 9'- 4" 5'- 4"

W18  46

20'
B-41