Evaluation of Compressive Strengths of HPS Plate Systems Stiffened with Trapezoidal Stiffeners

The ultimate compressive strengths of high performance steel (HPS) plate system stiffened longitudinally by closed stiffeners have been investigated by the nonlinear finite element analysis. Both conventional and high performance steels were considered in models following multi-linear strain hardening constitutive relationships. Initial geometric imperfections and residual stresses were also incorporated in the analysis. Numerical results have been compared to compressive strengths from Eurocode 3 EN 1993-1-5 and FHWA-TS-80-205. It has been found that although use of Eurocode 3 EN 1993-1-5 and FHWA-TS-80-205 may lead to highly conservative design strengths when very large column slenderness parameters are encountered