Improvement of the Strength Characteristics of H - Beams for Welded Frame Structure by Cross Section Shape Control

Abstract

The behavior of cantilever H-beam for welded structure subjected to monotonic and cyclic loads is investigated. Both bending test of cantilever beam and analysis based on Finite Element Method (FEM) considering the geometrical and material non-linearities are utilized. Special attention is paid to the effect of local buckling occurring in bottom flange and web on the deformabity of H-beam. The performance of H-beam is examined with respect to the strength, ductility and absorbed energy . It is generally found that the large anti-plane deformation due to the buckling in web occurs before buckling in bottom flange in the case of thick web. That is, control of web geometry is able to improve the performance of H-beam without the increase in weight of the beam . In the case of thin web, buckling in web occurs in the low deformation range just full owing buckling in bottom flange . In this case, web is so thin that control of web geometry for performance is not effective without weight increase . The same tendency can be observed under cyclic load.