Behaviour of web panels in plate girders curved in plan

Abstract

This paper is concerned with a study on the behaviour of plate girders curved in plan. Experiments on plate girders curved in plan are described and results obtained using finite element method for girders having different curvature and subjected to a point load applied at the mid span are presented. Deformation and the ultimate strength values predicted by the finite element method are shown to be in reasonably good agreement with those obtained from experiments. The effect of curvature and depth to thickness ratio of web on the ultimate strength behaviour are investigated. Copyright ASCE 2004.