Stress Distribution in Castellated Beams

A method of analysis for stress in castellated beams and beams with web openings is developed in this paper using finite difference, theory of elasticity solutions for both pure moment and pure shear loadings. An experimental program to evaluate the theory of elasticity solutions was conducted using nine full-sized test members. Three types of castellated beams fabricated from 18WF45 rolled beams are selected for comparison of stress distribution and magnitude because these three members include two different slopes of web openings and no increment plates and a member with an increment plate. In addition, the method most commonly used at present for analysis of castellated beams-the Vierendeel analysis-is compared with both the theory of elasticity solutions and the experimental data.