Effect of Shear and Pure Bending Spans on the Behaviour of Steel Beams with Corrugated Webs

The shear span-to-effective depth ratio is known to modulate the shear behaviour of steel beams with corrugated webs (SBCWs). However, present design standards for SBCWs do not adequately address this issue. The impact of shear span-to-effective depth ratio and pure bending spans on the failure mechanism of SBCWs was investigated in this study. Under four-point bending, three beams with shear-span-to-effective-depth-ratios ranging from 1.65 to 2.5 were examined to investigate the relationship between shear and bending spans and failure mechanisms. ANSYS software was used to create finite element models for the tested SBCWs using the finite element technique. In addition, the experimental findings are compared to two codes, specifically DASt-Rishtlinie015 and EN 1993-1-5. Moreover, an analytical section comprised of the creation of a three-dimensional (3D) finite element model (FEM) was implemented. Finally, a parametric study using the verified FE model was conducted to assess the impact of shear and pure bending spans on the overall behaviour of SBCWs. As a result, the shear span and horizontal fold length of CWSBs are key components for determining the strength and failure modes of beams. Furthermore, the load capabilities and stiffness of CWSBs were more greatly affected by increasing the shear span than by increasing the pure bending one.