ULTIMATE STRENGTH OF PLATE GIRDERS UNDER SHEAR

A NEW APPROACH IS PRESENTED FOR THE ULTIMATE STRENGTH ANALYSIS OF PLATE GIRDER PANELS SUBJECTED TO SHEAR. THE THE STRENGTHS OF THE BEAM ACTION, THE TENSION FIELD ACTION, THE WEB PLATE IS ASSUMED TO BE FIXED AT THE FLANGES AND SIMPLY SUPPORTED AT THE STIFFENERS. AFTER BUCKLING, THE WEB DEVELOPS THE TENSION FIELD OF A PATTERN DIFFERENT THAN THOSE PROPOSED BY OTHERS. SIMULTANEOUSLY, THE FLANGES DEVELOP THE FRAME ACTION--A PANEL MECHANISM WITH PLASTIC HINGES FORMING IN THE FLANGES AT EACH CORNER OF THE GIRDER PANEL. THE METHOD IS APPLICABLE TO SYMMETRICAL, UNSYMMETRICAL, HOMOGENEOUS, AND HYBRID PLATE GIRDERS. A COMPARISON WITH THE AVAILABLE 33 TEST RESULTS INDICATES A BETTER AND MORE CONSISTENT ACCURACY OF THE PROPOSED METHOD THAN OF THE METHODS DEVELOPED BY OTHER RESEARCHERS. /AUTHOR/