Ultimate Strength of Girders in Combined Load

In plate girders built up by welding, residual stresses and initial deflections inevitably remain in both flanges and web. Taking into account this fact, a numerical plastic analysis was carried out by the incremental technique in order to clarify the ultimate strength of transversely stiffened plate girders built up by welding under combined shear and bending. The appropriateness of this analytical method was then examined by comparison with test results. This analysis, clearly indicates that residual stress of the compression flange reduces the ultimate strength of plate girders under bending. In addition, the applicability of the writers' empirical formulas is considered. These empirical formulas can be shown to give a good approximation to the ultimate strength of the general welded plate girders with transverse stiffeners. Consequently, this analytical method is useful for the examination of safety against collapse, while the empirical formulas can be applied to the dimensioning in design practice.