Increasing Girder Elastic Buckling Strength Using Split Pipe Bearing Stiffeners
Publication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 19, Issue 4
Abstract
Warping restraining devices can result in substantial improvements in the girder elastic buckling capacity; however, calculating this increase can be complex. This paper presents a simplified method to evaluate the increase in elastic buckling strength and corresponding unbraced length due to improved warping restraint provided by split pipe stiffeners located at the ends of doubly symmetric W-shapes. The solution is based on analytical studies and results from a finite-element parametric study validated using large-scale laboratory tests. The laboratory tests include specimens exposed to concentrated loads with split pipe warp-restraining devices and others with standard plate stiffeners. The proposed analytic method is based on uniform moment and shows that warping restraint can increase the elastic buckling capacity of a girder by 30–100%. The improved warping stiffness can result in increases in the unbraced length in the range of 20–35% compared with systems with plate stiffeners.
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Acknowledgments
This research study was conducted with the support of the Texas DOT and the Ferguson Structural Engineering Laboratory. The authors thank both of these organizations for their generous support.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 19 • Issue 4 • April 2014
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 11, 2013
Accepted: Aug 30, 2013
Published online: Sep 2, 2013
Published in print: Apr 1, 2014
Discussion open until: May 16, 2014
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