STATIC CARRYING CAPACITY OF STEEL PLATE GIRDERS

A RESEARCH PROJECT CONDUCTED AT LEHIGH UNIVERSITY TO INVESTIGATE THE CARRYING CAPACITY OF THIN-WEB PLATE GIRDERS CONSISTED OF ANALYTICAL STUDIES AND A SERIES OF TESTS ON FULL-SIZE, WELDED STEEL GIRDERS. DESIGN RECOMMENDATIONS PREPARED FROM THE RESULTS HAVE BEEN INCORPORATED IN THE NEW AISC DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS. SOME OF THE FINDINGS OF THIS RESEARCH ARE SUMMARIZED IN PAPER AND THE MORE IMPORTANT DESIGN RECOMMENDATIONS ARE PRESENTED BRIEFLY. THE SUBJECT IS TREATED FROM A PHYSICAL RATHER THAN A MATHEMATICAL VIEWPOINT. AMONG THE FINDINGS IS THAT THE STATIC CARRYING CAPACITY OF A PLATE GIRDER UNDER BENDING DEPENDS ESSENTIALLY ON THE COMPRESSION FLANGE AND THE CAPACITY UNDER SHEAR DEPENDS ON THE WEB AND STIFFENERS. /AUTHOR/