Shear buckling of plate girders with corrugated web restrained by end stiffeners

The study reports the investigations into the effect produced by flexural stiffness of end stiffeners on the design buckling resistance of the sine wave webs of girders. Experimental investigations were concerned with load displacement paths in sinusoidally corrugated web girders, composed of structural items and made to the full scale. The phenomena occurring in experimental investigations were represented using the Finite Element Method. In numerical models based on FEM analysis, the same failure modes of webs that were found in experimental investigations into corrugated web girders were accounted for. FEM numerical analysis was performed for girder models with webs 500, 1000, 1250 and 1500 mm in height, made of corrugated sheet metal 2, 2.5 and 3 mm in thickness. On the basis of laboratory tests and FEM analysis, a new method for estimating design shear buckling resistance for girders with semirigid and rigid end stiffeners was proposed. The method relies on the determination of interactive buckling resistance. The solution presented in this study was compared with formulas currently used for buckling resistance estimation. It was shown that the use of girder rigid end stiffeners produces in increase in shear buckling resistance up to 11%. Conclusions were drawn and recommendations were made with respect to the sizing of sine wave corrugated web girders with semirigid and rigid end stiffeners.