• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.539-551
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• 2023

In order to study the fire resistance of castellated composite beams with ortho-hexagonal holes and different beam-end restraints, temperature rise tests with constant load were conducted on full-scale castellated composite beams with ortho-hexagonal holes and hinge or rigid joint constraints to investigate the temperature distribution, displacement changes and failure patterns of castellated composite beams with two different beam-end constraints during the whole course of fire. The results show that (1) During the fire, the axial pressure and horizontal expansion deformation generated in the rigid joint constrained composite beam were larger than those in the hinge joint constrained castellated composite beam, and their maximum horizontal expansion displacements were 30.2 mm and 17.8 mm, respectively. (2) After the fire, the cracks on the slab surface of the castellated composite beam with rigid joint constraint were more complicated than hinge restraint, and the failure more serious; the lower flange and web at the ends of the castellated steal beams with hinge and rigid joint constraint produced serious local buckling, and the angles of the ortho-hexagonal holes at the support cracked; the welds at both ends of the castellated composite beam with rigid joint constraint cracked. (3) Based on the simplified calculation method of solid-web composite beam, considering the effect of holes on the web, this paper calculated the axial force and displacement of the beam-end constrained castellated composite beams under fire. The calculation results agreed well with the test results.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.59 no.5
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• pp.933-950
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• 2016

Decks, interior beams, edge beams and girders are the parts of a steel floor system. If the deck is optimized without considering beam optimization, finding best result is simple. However, a deck with higher cost may increase the composite action of the beams and decrease the beam cost reducing the total cost. Also different number of floor divisions can improve the total floor cost. Increasing beam capacity by using castellated beams is other efficient method to save the costs. In this study, floor optimization is performed and these three issues are discussed. Floor division number and deck sections are some of the variables. Also for each beam, profile section of the beam, beam cutting depth, cutting angle, spacing between holes and number of filled holes at the ends of castellated beams are other variables. Constraints include the application of stress, stability, deflection and vibration limitations according to the load and resistance factor (LRFD) design. Objective function is the total cost of the floor consisting of the steel profile cost, cutting and welding cost, concrete cost, steel deck cost, shear stud cost and construction costs. Optimization is performed by enhanced colliding body optimization (ECBO), Results show that using castellated beams, selecting a deck with higher price and considering different number of floor divisions can decrease the total cost of the floor.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.685-699
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• 2023

In recent years, Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) strengthening is found to be one of the best methods to strengthen steel structures. The fibrous bond can also influence the vibration characteristics of the strengthened element apart from its static strength enhancement property. The main objective of this study is to understand the influence of CFRP strengthening on the dynamic Behaviour of Thin-Webbed Castellated Beams (TWCBs). A detailed experimental investigation was carried out on five sets of beams with varying parameters such as domination of shear (Shear Dominant, Moment Dominant and Moment and Shear Dominant), sectional classification (Plastic and Semi-compact) and perforation geometries (h_o/d_wratio 0.65 and e/h_o ratio 0.3). Free vibration analysis was carried out by exciting the simply supported TWCBs with an impact force generated by a ball dropped from a specific height. Logarithmic decrement method was used to obtain the damping ratio and natural frequencies of vibration were found by Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). Natural frequency showed an increase in a range of 10.5 - 55% for the different sets of castellated beams. An increase of 62.30% was noted in the damping ratio of TWCBs after strengthening which is an indication of improvement in the vibration characteristics of the beam.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.305-324
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• 2015

In this study, two common types of laterally supported castellated beams are considered as design problems: beams with hexagonal openings and beams with circular openings. The main goal of manufacturing these beams is to increase the moment of inertia and section modulus, which results in greater strength and rigidity. These types of open-web beams have found widespread use, primarily in buildings, because of great savings in materials and construction costs. Hence, the minimum cost is taken as the design objective function and the Colliding Bodies Optimization (CBO) method is utilized for obtaining the solution of the design problem. The design methods used in this study are consistent with BS5950 Part 1 and Part 3, and Euro Code 3. A number of design examples are considered to optimize by CBO algorithm. Comparison of the optimal solution of the CBO algorithm with those of the Enhanced Charged System Search (ECSS) method demonstrate the capability of CBO in solving the present type of design problem. It is also observed that optimization results obtained by the CBO algorithm for three design examples have less cost in comparison to the results of the ECSS algorithm. From the results obtained in this paper, it can be concluded that the use of beam with hexagonal opening requires smaller amount of steel material and it is superior to the cellular beam from the cost point of view.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.289-302
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• 2016

A new kind of partially precast or prefabricated castellated steel reinforced concrete beam, which is abbreviated here as CPSRC beam, was presented and introduced in this paper. This kind of CPSRC beam is composed of a precast outer-part and a cast-in-place inner-part. The precast outer-part is composed of an encased castellated steel shape, reinforcement bars and high performance concrete. The cast-in-place inner-part is made of common strength concrete, and is casted with the floor slabs simultaneously. In order to investigate the shear performance of the CPSRC beam, experiments of six CPSRC T-beam specimens, together with experiments of one cast-in-place SRC control T-beam specimen were conducted. All the specimens were subjected to sagging bending moment (or positive moment). In the tests, the influence of casting different strength of concrete in the cross section on the shear performance of the PPSRC beam was firstly emphasized, and the effect of the shear span-to-depth ratio on that were also especially taken into account too. During the tests, the shear force-deflection curves were recorded, while the strains of concrete, the steel shapes as well as the reinforcement stirrups at the shear zone of the specimens were also measured, and the crack propagation pattern together with the failure pattern was as well observed in detail. Based on the test results, the shear failure mechanism was clearly revealed, and the effect of the concrete strength and shear span-to-depth ratios were investigated. The shear capacity of such kind of CPSRC was furthermore discussed, and the influences of the holes on the steel shape on the shear performance were particularly analyzed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.677-684
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• 2022

This paper reports experimental investigation on shear behavior of steel reinforced concrete (SRC) shallow floor beam, where the steel shape is embedded in concrete and the high strength bolts are used to transfer the shear force along the interface between the steel shape and concrete. Six specimens were conducted aiming to provide information on shear performance and explore the shear bearing capacity of SRC shallow floor beams. The effects of the height of concrete slab, the size and the type of the steel section on shear performance of beams were also analyzed in the test. Based on the strut-and-tie model, the shear strength of the SRC shallow floor beam was proposed. Experimental results showed that composite shallow floor beam exhibited satisfactory composite behavior and all of the specimen failed in shear failure. The shear bearing capacity increased with the increasing of height of concrete slab and the size of steel shape, and the bearing capacities of beam specimens with castellated steel shape was slightly lower than those of specimens with H-shaped steel section. Furthermore, the calculations for evaluating the shear bearing capacity of SRC shallow floor beam were verified to be reasonable.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.671-684
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• 2017

Elastic-plastic shear buckling behaviors of the web-post in a Castellated Steel Beam (CSB) with hexagonal web openings under vertical shear force were investigated further using Finite Element Model (FEM) based on a sub-model, which took the upper part of the web-post under horizontal shear force to represent the whole web-post under vertical shear force. A simplified design method for the web-post elastic-plastic shear buckling strength was proposed based on simulation results of the sub-model. Proper boundary conditions were applied to the sub-model to assure that its behaviors were identical to those of the whole web-post. The equation to calculate the thin plate elastic shear buckling strength was adopted as the basic form to build the design equation for elastic-plastic buckling strength of the sub-model. Parameters that might affect the elastic-plastic shear buckling strength of the whole web-post were studied. After obtaining the vertical shear buckling strength of a sub-model through FEM, the shear buckling coefficient k can be obtained through the back analysis. A practical calculation method for k was proposed through curving fitting the parameter study results. The elastic-plastic shear buckling strength of the web-post calculated using the proposed shear buckling coefficient k agreed well with that obtained from the FEM and test results. And it was more precise than those obtained from EC3 based on the strut model.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.1417-1443
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• 2016

Cellular and castellated steel beams are used to obtain higher stiffness and bending capacity using the same weight of steel. In addition, the beam openings may be used as a pass for different mechanical fixtures such as ducts and pipes. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of different parameters on both elastic and inelastic critical buckling stresses of steel web plates with openings. These parameters are plate aspect ratio; opening shape (circular or rectangular); end distance to the first opening; opening spacing; opening size; plate slenderness ratio; steel grade; and initial web imperfection. The web/flange interaction has been simplified by web edge restraints representing simply supported boundary conditions. A numerical parametric study has been performed through linear and nonlinear finite element (FE) models, where the FE results have been verified against both experimental and numerical results in the literature. The web plates are subject to in-plane linearly varying compression with different loading patterns, ranging from uniform compression to pure bending. A buckling stress modification factor (${\beta}$-factor) has been introduced as a ratio of buckling stress of web plate with openings to buckling stress of the corresponding solid web plate. The variation of ${\beta}$-factor against the aforementioned parameters has been reported. Furthermore, the critical plate slenderness ratio separating elastic buckling and yielding has been identified and discussed for two steel grades of DIN-17100, namely: ST-37/2 and ST-52/3. The FE results revealed that the minimum ${\beta}$-factor is 0.9 for web plates under uniform compression and 0.7 for those under both compression and tension.