Buckling of webs in unsymmetric plate girders

Abstract

The elastic buckling behavior of unsymmetric plate girder webs with and without a longitudinal stiffener is presented. The results of a finite element analysis were used to develop a buckling coefficient for longitudinally stiffened webs which takes into account the depth of the web in compression and the vertical location of the stiffener. The results are compared with the AASHTO Bridge Specifications and a design example is presented.