Behavior of wide flange beams with web openings

• Main Author: Assenso Antwi, Akwasi Manu
• Format: Others
• Published: OpenSIUC 2012
• Subjects: web openings; wide flange beams
• Online Access: https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/theses/978; https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1986&context=theses

Behavior of wide flanged beams is of much importance to civil engineers as this one of the main materials used in steel structures. Openings are made in the web of beams to pass services pipes from one side of the building to another, when these openings are made in the beams, the shear and moment capacity at this section will be reduced. This will increase stresses at this section of the beam and will subsequently affect the stress distribution in the beam with web opening. Longitudinal stiffeners are placed at the top and bottom edges of the web opening to increase both moment and shear capacity at the section with web opening. Four samples were used in this study; a solid wide flange beam, a wide flange beam with web opening and two beams with reinforced web openings. The von Mises stress and the first principal stresses were obtained from the nonlinear static analysis. The results from a nonlinear finite element analysis of the four simply supported beams are discussed. The AISC steel design guide series 2 provide equations for the design of reinforced web opening. The reinforced web opening beam using the AISC guidelines is evaluated by comparing it to the finite element analysis.