Imperfection Sensitivity of the Shear Behaviour of Corrugated Web Beams

Abstract

This thesis investigates the imperfection sensitivity of the shear behavior of stainless steel beams with corrugated webs, with the main objective of verifying the shear resistance design equations in EN 1993-1-5. Firstly, a comprehensive literature study was conducted to acquire deeper knowledge on the subject and generate a database to verify the calculated reduction factor by the Eurocode equations. Afterward Finite Element Modeling analysis using ABAQUS was done to consider the imperfection sensitivity of the shear behavior of beams with different geometric parameters. 17 different parametric models of stainless steel corrugated web beams were considered to cover various slenderness ratios and simulations by using Python code were run. Nonlinear analysis for the mentioned models was performed while considering 20 buckling modes as patterns of the initial imperfection with different amplitudes of 𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑥/200 (𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑥 is the larger length between inclined and horizontal fold), 𝑡𝑤 (web thickness), and ℎ𝑤/200 (ℎ𝑤 is web height). Lastly, a discussion is conducted to evaluate the use of the Eurocode’s design equations for stainless steel beams.