International Journal of Steel Structures

March 2013, Vol 13, No 1, 71-79

DOI 10.1007/s13296-013-1007-8

www.springer.com/journal/13296

Elastic Lateral-torsional Buckling of

Tapered I-girder with Corrugated Webs
Ngoc Duong Nguyen1, Hieu Nguyen-Van2, Sang-Yun Han3,
Jun-Ho Choi3, and Young-Jong Kang3,*
1
Senior Design Engineer, Dragages Singapore Pte Ltd., 19 Keppel Road, #10-00, Jit Poh Building, 089058, Singapore
2
Faculty of Civil Engineering, HoChiMinh City University of Architecture, 196 Pasteur, District 3, HCM, 70000, Vietnam
3
School of Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering, Korea University, 5-1 Anam-dong, Sungbuk-gu, Seoul, 136-701, Korea

Abstract

This paper deals with the elastic lateral-torsional buckling (LTB) strength of tapered I-girders with corrugated webs under
two types of loading conditions: uniform moment and moment gradient with various end restraint conditions. A finite element
(FE) program using beam elements is developed to study LTB behaviors. The results from this program are compared with
those from the commercial software ABAQUS using shell elements. From the comparisons, it is found that the developed FE
program's results agree well with the results from ABAQUS. For design purpose, the closed-form equations for the critical
buckling moment of the tapered I-girder with corrugated webs under uniform moment and moment gradient with four types
of end restraint conditions: simply supported, warping fixed, lateral bending fixed, and completely fixed are proposed based
on the results from the developed FE program. From the numerical investigations, the new design equations give reasonably
accurate results. These equations increase efficiency in bridges and buildings design.

Keywords: lateral-torsional buckling, end restraint conditions, corrugated webs, tapered I-girder

1. Introduction beams with increasing inertia moment at mid span under

The use of tapered members in the steel structures is
one of the possible ways to (i) optimize the materials in
the low moment region, (ii) improve the architectural
aesthetics, and (iii) reduce the fabrication cost. Tapered
members have gradual changes in the cross section
dimension. Tapered web depths are very common, but
less common are tapered flange widths. Flange or web
thicknesses are never tapered in civil engineering steel
structures, but are sometimes used in aerospace structures,
when saving weight can produce significant economies
(Trahair, 1993).
Many studies on the LTB of tapered I-girders with flat
webs have been carried out. Kitipornchai and Trahair
(1972) gave a detailed review of the studies prior to 1971.
Also, in their paper, the elastic twisting and flexural-
torsional buckling of the simply supported tapered I-
Note.-Discussion open until August 1, 2013. This manuscript for this
paper was submitted for review and possible publication on June 29,
2012; approved on February 19, 2013.
© KSSC and Springer 2013
*Corresponding author
Tel: +82-2-3290-3317; Fax: +82-2-921-5166
E-mail: yjkang@korea.ac.kr
concentrated load were studied, both theoretically and
experimentally. The numerical results in their paper were
obtained by using the finite integral method. A few years
later, they developed a general theory for bending and
torsion of the tapered monosymmetric I-beams and the
results from their theory were in good agreement with
experiments (Kitipornchai and Trahair, 1975). Since then,
contributions to the flexural-torsional buckling of tapered
members have been made by Wekezer (1985), Braham
(1997), Valicourt (2000), Andrade and Camotim (2004),
Yau (2006), Andrade et al. (2007), Lei and Shu (2008),
and Andrade et al. (2010).
Tapered I-beams, divided into prismatic beam finite
elements to study lateral-torsional buckling, were developed
by Bazant and El Nimeiri (1973), Nethercot (1973),
Horne et al. (1979), Brown (1981), Shiomi and Kurata
(1984), Braham and Hanikenne (1993), Chan (1990),
Gupta et al. (1996), and Kim and Kim (2000). In addition,
finite element formulations to analyze the elastic flexural-
torsional buckling of tapered I-beams were developed by
Yang and Yau (1987), Bradford and Cuk (1988), Bradford
(1988a), Boissonnade and Muzeau (2001), and Boissonnade
and Braham (2002). Bradford extended his study (Bradford
and Cuk, 1988) to investigate the lateral stability of tapered
beam-columns with elastic restraint (Bradford, 1988b),
72 Ngoc Duong Nguyen et al. / International Journal of Steel Structures, 13(1), 71-79, 2013
Figure 1. Equivalence between tapered beam and prismatic
beam in AISC (1994).
and the inelastic buckling of tapered monosymmetric I-
beams (Bradford, 1989).
The AISC Specification (1994) covers the design of a
doubly symmetric web-tapered I-girder with equal flange.
The depth of web varies linearly as follows,
L – z-ξ⎞
hw = hs⎛1 + --------
⎝ L ⎠
where ξ is the taper ratio calculated by
hL – hs L- ≤ 6.0
ξ = ------------- ≤ 0.268---
hs hs
hs and hL are the web heights at the small end and large
end, respectively and L is the unbraced length as shown
in Fig. 1.
The AISC Specification assumes that the LTB strength
of a web tapered I girder under end moment is the same
as the LTB strength of a prismatic girder with different
length and the same cross-section as the one of the web
tapered I girder corresponding to the smaller end as shown
in Fig. 1.
Most past studies and the current specification investigated
the LTB of the tapered I-girder with flat webs, prismatic
I-girders with corrugated webs (Moon et al., 2009;
Nguyen et al., 2010; Nguyen et al., 2011; Nguyen et al.,
2012), and stepped I-girder with flat webs (Park and
Kang, 2004). The LTB of the tapered I-girders with
Figure 2. (a) Dimensions of cross-section, (b) Dimensions of corrugation profiles.
corrugated webs has not yet been considered. Therefore,
the aim of this paper is to solve this problem.
In this paper, the numerical solutions for the LTB strength
of a tapered I-girder with corrugated webs are obtained
by using a developed finite element (FE) program with
four degrees of freedom (DOFs) beam elements. The new
cross-section properties of an I-girder with corrugated
webs suggested by Nguyen et al. (2010), as well as the
finite element formulation of torsional-flexural stability
problems proposed by Barsoum and Gallagher (1970),
are used in this program. To consider the variable of the
cross-section along the span, Gaussian quadrature is applied
to calculate the element stiffness matrix. A series of finite
element analyses with different lengths, corrugation profiles,
and taper ratios is then performed. The results from the
developed FE program are compared with those from the
commercial ABAQUS (2007). Through comparative
numerical studies, the developed FE program is successfully
verified. The closed-form equation is proposed for the
LTB strength of a simply supported tapered I-girder with
corrugated webs for the purpose of design. In addition,
(1)
tapered I-girders with corrugated webs under unequal end
moments with four types of end restraint conditions
(simply supported, warping fixed, lateral bending fixed,
and completely fixed) are investigated and the closed-
form moment modification factors are suggested.
(2)
2. Background and Previous Work
In this study, the formula for calculating the shear
modulus of corrugated webs proposed by Samanta and
Mukhopadhyay (1999) is adopted, as follows,
Gc = a + b-G
---------
(3)
a+c
where G is the shear modulus of the flat plates, and (a+b)
is the projection length of the actual length (a+c).
Figure 2 shows the geometry data of cross-section and
corrugation profiles. In this figure, hw is the height of the
corrugated web, bf is the width of the flange, tf is the
thickness of the flange, tw is the thickness of the web, d
is the depth of corrugation, a is the length of the flat
panel, b is the projection length of the inclined panel, c is
 Elastic Lateral-torsional Buckling of Tapered I-girder with Corrugated Webs 73

Figure 3. 3D ABAQUS model and elevation view.

the length of the inclined panel, and dmax is the maximum where Lb is the lateral buckling length of the I-girder
depth of corrugation.
π ECw,c-
Using the study in Lindner (1990), the pure torsional with corrugated webs and Wc = ----- ------------ represents the
constant Jc of a steel I-girder with corrugated webs does L b Gc J c
not differ from a beam with a flat web. Therefore, Jc is effect of warping torsional stiffness.
given by In addition, Nguyen et al. (2012) proposed a formula to
3 3
calculate the critical moment of a prismatic I-girder with
2bftf + hwtw corrugated webs under moment gradient corresponding to
Jc = ------------------------- (4)
3 simply supported, warping fixed, lateral bending fixed,
and completely fixed end restraint conditions as follows,
From the study by Nguyen et al. (2010), the moments 2
2
of inertia about the weak axis (y-axis), Iy,c, and the π EIy,c ⎛ k ⎞ 2Cw,c (kL) GcJc
- ----- --------- + ----------------------
Mcr,c = Cb,c × ---------------
2 ⎝k ⎠ I 2
- (8)
warping constant, Cw,c, of the I-girder with corrugated (kL) w y,c π EIy,c
webs can be expressed by:
3 2 2
where k is the lateral bending coefficient, and kw is the
tfbf(2tfbf + twhwbf + 12d twhw) warping coefficient. For free lateral bending, k=1; for
Iy,c = -------------------------------------------------------------------
- (5)
6(2tfbf + twhw) free warping, kw=1; for lateral bending fixed, k=0.5; and
2 3 2 2
for warping fixed, kw=0.5.
hwtfbf(6tfbf + twhwbf + 12d twhw) where Cb,c is the proposed moment modification factor for
Cw,c = -------------------------------------------------------------------------
- (6)
24(6tfbf + twhw) an I-girder with corrugated webs under moment gradient.
Cb,c represents the amount of increase in the critical
where Iy, c and Cw, c are quadratic functions of d, and vary uniform moment Mocr,c of an I-girder with corrugated
when d changes from d=0 to d=dmax. Thus, to simplify the webs. The values of Cb,c are given by the equations in
calculation, Iy, c and Cw, c are given by the average value of Table 1.
Iy, c and Cw, c with d=0, and Iy, c and Cw, c with d=dmax.
Nguyen et al. (2010) suggested that, for a simply 3. Finite Element Model
supported restraint of a prismatic I-girder with corrugated
webs, which is prevented from lateral deflection and The models are built by using four nodes thin shell
twisting, but which is free to rotate laterally and warp, the elements (S4R5) in ABAQUS software (2007), as shown
elastic lateral-torsional buckling strength under uniform in Fig. 3a. Three groups of tapered I-girders with different
moment can be expressed as follows, lengths, corrugation profiles, and smaller cross-section
dimensions are considered in this study, and are given in
π 2 Table 2. The material properties are Young’s modulus of
Mocr,c = ----- EIy,c GcJc 1 + Wc (7)
Lb elasticity E=200,000 N/mm2, the shear modulus of
74 Ngoc Duong Nguyen et al. / International Journal of Steel Structures, 13(1), 71-79, 2013

Table 1. Equations for Cb,c

Restraints Cb,c
Simply supported Cb,c= −0.078α −0.196α −0.274α −0.182α3 +0.364α 2+1.219α+1.829
6 5 4

Warping fixed Cb,c= −0.7923α6 −0.7363α5 +0.4597α4 +0.4081α3+0.4617α2+1.4169α+2.0909

Lateral bending fixed Cb,c= −0.0694α6 −0.2α5 −0.0957α4 +0.0711α3+0.2949α2+1.0944α+1.9654
Completely fixed Cb,c= −0.249α6 −0.134α5 +0.367α4 +0.257α3+0.297α2+1.081α+1.789

Table 2. Geometry data of three groups’ analysis models

Model a b dmax c tw hs bf tf L
Group ξ α
No (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm)
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13)
C1 270 200 20 203.96 10 500 400 30 15980 0.5~3.0 -1.0~1.0
A
C2 270 200 20 203.96 10 500 400 30 18800 0.5~3.0 -1.0~1.0
C1 330 270 40 281.60 12 700 500 40 16800 0.5~3.0 -1.0~1.0
B
C2 330 270 40 281.60 12 700 500 40 19200 0.5~3.0 -1.0~1.0
C1 350 275 60 300.04 12 750 500 40 17500 0.5~3.0 -1.0~1.0
C
C2 350 275 60 300.04 12 750 500 40 21250 0.5~3.0 -1.0~1.0

elasticity G=E/2(1+ν), and Poisson’s ratio ν=0.3. Figure

3b illustrates the elevation view and the cross-section
used for finite element analyses with ABAQUS software
and the developed FE program of the tapered I-girder
with corrugated webs. As shown in Fig. 3b, hs and hL are
the web heights at the small end and large end,
respectively, and L is the unbraced length. In each group,
two different values of L are used in the finite element
investigations of a tapered I-girder with corrugated webs
under uniform moment. The taper ratio, ξ, is also defined
in Fig. 3b. For the special case of ξ=0, the beam is
prismatic. The range of the taper ratio, ξ, is given in Table
2, and defines the limits of FE investigations. This range
covers the majority of practical situations. The height of
the corrugated web linearly varies with Eq. (1) along the
unbraced length, L.
4. Finite Element Formulation
Herein, a tapered I-girder with corrugated webs is
divided into prismatic beam finite elements, to study
lateral-torsional buckling. A finite element program is
developed to calculate the elastic LTB strength of a
tapered I-girder with corrugated webs under two types of
loading conditions: uniform moment and moment gradient
with four types of end restraint conditions: simply supported,
warping fixed, lateral bending fixed, and completely
fixed. The new cross-section properties proposed by
Nguyen et al. (2010) are adopted in this program.
For elastic buckling, the elastic critical load may be
obtained from the following determinantal equation
[ KE ] + η [ KG ] = 0
Figure 4. Element forces and DOFs at two nodes of beam
element.
the resistance of the beam to lateral-torsional displacements,
[KG] is the global geometric matrix measuring the
tendency of the stresses in the beam to cause lateral
displacements corresponding to unit applied load and η is
the load factor (eigenvalue). The geometric stiffness
matrix presented by Barsoum and Gallagher (1970) is
used in this study.
Beam elements with four degrees of freedom at each
end node are adopted in this investigation, which are
adequate to define the deformations of the beam when it
deflects laterally and twists. As shown in Fig. 4, the
element forces and degrees of freedom at each end node
include: the out-of-plane displacement ν, the out-of-plane
rotation θ, the torsion of the section φ, and the warping of
the section χ. The displacements are approximated in
terms of Hermite cubic interpolation functions along the
span of the element (Gupta et al., 1996) as follows,
ν = N 1 ν1 – N 2 θ 1 + N 3 ν2 – N 4 θ 2 (10)
(9) φ = N1 φ 1 – N2 χ1 + N3 φ 2 – N 4 χ2 (11)

where [KE] is the global elastic stiffness matrix measuring where N1, N2, N3, and N4 are Hermite cubic interpolation
 Elastic Lateral-torsional Buckling of Tapered I-girder with Corrugated Webs 75

functions. 5. Verification of the Developed Finite

In addition, the element stiffness matrix is calculated as Element Program
(e ) T
[k ] = ∫ [ B] [ D][ B]dΩ (12) Herein, the girders are considered to be simply supported
Ω
(e ) in flexure and torsion for verification of the developed
finite element (FE) program. The boundary conditions of
where, [D] is the stress/strain matrix and [B] is the strain-
the analysis models in ABAQUS software (2007) are
displacement matrix. The element stiffness matrix in Eq.
illustrated in Fig. 5. Point A is the hinged end where the
(12) is carried out by using four-point Gaussian quadrature
displacements in directions 1, 2, 3 and the rotation about
to consider the variable in the cross-section of a tapered
direction 3 are restrained. Point B is a roller end where
I-girder with corrugated webs along the span.
the displacements in directions 1, 2 and the rotation about
The stress/strain matrix [D] is given by
direction 3 are restrained. The a edges are restrained in
direction 2. The displacements in direction 1 for the b
⎧ 2 ⎫
∂ ν- ⎪
⎪ ------- edges are restrained. The loading conditions corresponding
⎪ ∂z2 ⎪ with the positive and negative values of the end moment
⎧ My ⎫ EI (z) 0 0 ⎪ ⎪ ratios, α, are shown in Fig. 5a and b, respectively.
⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ∂φ ⎪
⎨ Mz ⎬ = [ D ] { ε } = 0 G c J c ( z ) 0 ⎨ ------ ⎬ (13) Convergence study is conducted to obtain the mesh
⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ∂z ⎪ refinement for beam element. Figure 6 shows the results
⎩ Bi ⎭ 0 0 ECw,c(z) ⎪ 2 ⎪
∂ φ⎪
⎪–------- of convergence analysis, where the x axis and the y axis
-
⎪ ∂z2 ⎪ denote the number of beam elements and the errors
⎩ ⎭ between elastic critical buckling moment of the simply
supported tapered I-girders with corrugated webs under
where, My is the bending moment about the weak axis (y-
uniform moment from ABAQUS software and those from
axis); Mz is the St. Venant torsion; and Bt is the bimoment
the developed FE program, respectively. It is observed
(warping moment). Gc is the shear modulus of corrugated
that the convergence of the developed FE program is
webs. Jc is the pure torsional constant of an I-girder with
obtained rapidly with a small number of elements. Also,
corrugated webs. Iy, c is the moment inertia of an I-girder
the errors of the results from the developed FE program
with corrugated webs about the weak axis (y-axis). Cw, c is
and those from ABAQUS software converge on a specific
the warping constant of an I-girder with corrugated webs
value when the number of beam elements is larger than
and E is the Young’s modulus of elasticity.
five. Based on this result, more than five beam elements
The strain-displacement matrix is given by
are used for all analysis models to obtain accurate
numerical results.
⎧ 2 ⎫
⎪ ∂-------ν- ⎪
⎪ ∂z2 ⎪ 5.1. Tapered I-girder with corrugated webs under
⎪ ⎪ uniform moment
⎪ ∂φ ⎪ (e )
⎨ ------ ⎬ = [ B]{∆ } The variation of Motc,FEMA/Motc,FEMB with changing taper
⎪ ∂z ⎪ ratios, ξ, for L=15,980, L=16,800, and L=17,500 mm of
⎪ 2 ⎪
∂ φ⎪
⎪–------- groups A, B, and C, respectively, is plotted in Fig. 7a,
-
⎪ ∂z2 ⎪ where Motc,FEMA and Motc,FEMB are the elastic critical
⎩ ⎭ buckling moment of simply supported tapered I-girders
with corrugated webs under uniform moment, from
⎧ ν1 ⎫
⎪ ⎪ ABAQUS software, and from the developed FE program,
⎪ θ1 ⎪ respectively. It can be seen from this figure that the values
⎪ ⎪ of Motc,FEMB are well matched with Motc,FEMA. The
⎪ φ1 ⎪
N1'' –N2'' 0 0 N3'' –N4'' 0 0 ⎪ ⎪ maximum differences are 2.15, 1.52, and 3.36%, for
⎪ χ1 ⎪ groups A, B, and C, respectively.
= 0 0 N1' –N2' 0 0 N3' N4' ⎨ ⎬ (14)
⎪ ν2 ⎪
0 0 N1'' –N2'' 0 0 N3'' –N4'' ⎪ ⎪ 5.2. Tapered I-girder with corrugated webs under
⎪ θ2 ⎪ moment gradient
⎪ ⎪
⎪ φ2 ⎪ Comparisons between Mtc,FEMA and Mtc,FEMB with
⎪ ⎪ changing the end moment ratios, α, for L=15,980,
⎩ χ2 ⎭ L=16,800, and L=17,500 mm of groups A, B, and C,
respectively, corresponding to ξ=0.5, are shown in Fig.
where {∆(e)} is the element displacement vector.
7b, where Mtc,FEMA and Mtc,FEMB are the elastic critical
76 Ngoc Duong Nguyen et al. / International Journal of Steel Structures, 13(1), 71-79, 2013

Figure 5. Loading and boundary condition of the analysis models for verification of the developed FE program.

groups A, B, and C, respectively.

The above verifications demonstrate the validity and
versatility of the developed FE program. It is a reliable
and efficient tool for engineering design practice.

6. Finite Element Results and Design

Figure 6. Convergence test.
buckling moment of simply supported tapered I-girders
with corrugated webs under moment gradient, from
ABAQUS software, and from the developed FE program,
respectively. It can be found that the values of Mtc,FEMB
are in good agreement with those of Mtc,FEMA. The
maximum discrepancies are 6.718, 7.412, and 9.75%, for
Recommendations
6.1. Tapered I-girder with corrugated webs under
uniform moment
Herein, 36 FE models of the tapered I-girders with
corrugated webs are analyzed. In each group, two values
of the unbraced length, L, are used, and each of them is
combined with six different values of the taper ratios, ξ,
as shown in Table 2.
From the results of the investigations of 36 FE models
using the developed FE program, the elastic critical
buckling moment is proposed as follows, to be applicable
to a simply supported tapered I-girder with corrugated
webs under uniform moment:
Eq. (7)
Mot,c = CtcMocr,c (15)

Figure 7. Comparison between Motc,FEMA and Motc,FEMB or between Mtc,FEMA and Mtc,FEMB for tapered I-girders with
corrugated webs of groups A, B, and C, respectively.
 Elastic Lateral-torsional Buckling of Tapered I-girder with Corrugated Webs
Figure 8. Comparison between Ctc,FEMB and Cb,c for tapered
I-girders with corrugated webs under uniform moment.
where, Mot,c is the elastic LTB strength of a simply
supported tapered I-girder with corrugated webs under
uniform moment.
Eq. (7)
Mocr,c is the elastic LTB strength of an equal length
prismatic I-girder with corrugated webs having a smaller
cross-section along the entire span, and is given by Eq.
(7).
Ctc is the proposed modification coefficient for the
simply supported tapered I-girder with corrugated webs
under uniform moment from the investigation FE results
of the developed FE program, and is given by
Ctc=1+0.13ξ (16)
Figure 8 illustrates comparisons of the values of Ctc
(Eq. (16)) with those of Ctc,FEMB for all models. Ctc,FEMB is
the modification coefficient from the developed FE
program, and is defined as the quotient of Motc,FEMB and
Mocr,c (Eq. (7)). The values of Ctc are plotted as a solid
line, and are the linear function of the taper ratio, ξ. It is
observed that the values of Ctc,FEMB increase, when the
taper ratio increases. The maximum difference for
conservative estimate is 11.285% at L=17,500 mm and
ξ=3.0, while the maximum difference for unconservative
estimate is 4.486% at L=18,800 mm and ξ=3.0.
Consequently, the accuracy of the proposed solution is
acceptable over the range of parameters investigated.
6.2. Tapered I-girder with corrugated webs under
moment gradient
Finite element analyses of 162 models are carried out,
including 54 modes of each group. The lengths L are
fixed at 15,980, 16,800, and 17,500 mm for groups A, B,
and C respectively. Six values of the taper ratios, ξ, are
combined with nine values of the end moment ratios, α,
as shown in Table 2 for each group. Also, the four types
of end restraint conditions previously detailed are
scrutinized.
In this study, for the tapered I-girder with corrugated
77
webs under moment gradient, the suggested critical
moment Mtc is given by:
Eq. (8)
Mtc = Ctc × Mcr,c = Ctc × Cb,c
2 2
π EIy,c ⎛ k ⎞ 2Cw,c (kL) GcJc
- ----- --------- + ----------------------
× ---------------
2 ⎝k ⎠ I 2
- (17)
(kL) w y,c π EIy,c
where, Mtc is the elastic LTB strength of a tapered I-girder
with corrugated webs under moment gradient considering
the four types of end restraint conditions: simply supported,
warping fixed, lateral bending fixed, and completely
fixed.
Ctc is the proposed modification coefficient for a tapered
I-girder with corrugated webs, and is given by Eq. (16).
Eq. (8)
Mcr,c is the elastic critical buckling moment of an
equal length prismatic I-girder with corrugated webs
having a smaller cross-section along the entire span under
moment gradient, considering the four types of end
restraint conditions addressed.
In addition, the values of Ct,FEMB from the developed FE
program are calculated as follows
Mtc,FEMB
Ct,FEMB = ---------------------------------------------------------------------
- (18)
2 2
π EIy,c ⎛ k ⎞ 2Cw,c (kL) GcJc
- ----- --------- + ----------------------
---------------
2 ⎝k ⎠ I 2
-
(kL) w y,c π EIy,c
where, Mtc,FEMB is the elastic critical buckling moment of
a tapered I-girder with corrugated webs under moment
gradient, and the four types of end restraint conditions
mentioned above. The values of Mtc,FEMB are from the
developed FE program.
Variations in Ct,FEMB/(Ctc ×Cb,c) with end moment ratios,
α, are plotted in Fig. 9 for the tapered I-girders with
corrugated webs corresponding to the four types of end
restraint conditions. From Figs. 9a-9d, it can be found
that the maximum discrepancies for a conservative
estimate are 16.961% at ξ=3.0 and α=0.5 (group C);
37.286% at ξ=3.0 and α=0.5 (group C); 19.997% at
ξ=3.0 and α=0.75 (group C); and 41.546% at ξ=3.0 and
α=0.75 (group C) for the simply supported, warping
fixed, lateral bending fixed, and completely fixed end
restraint conditions, respectively. The maximum differences
for unconservative estimate are 7.003% at ξ=3.0 and
α=1.0 (group A), and 2.419% at ξ=0.5 and α= −1.0
(group A), for simply supported and lateral bending fixed
end restraint conditions, respectively. It is worth mentioning
that the proposed formula (Eq. (17)) gives good estimations
for simply supported and lateral bending fixed tapered I-
girders with corrugated webs. In addition, it gives a rather
over-conservative value for warping fixed and completely
fixed tapered I-girders with corrugated webs. However,
for two types of end restraint conditions (warping fixed
and completely fixed), Eq. (17) gives conservative values
for all cases.
78 Ngoc Duong Nguyen et al. / International Journal of Steel Structures, 13(1), 71-79, 2013
Figure 9. Comparison between Ctc,FEMB and the proposed Ctc ×Cb,c for tapered I-girders with corrugated webs under moment
gradient.
7. Conclusions
The FE program, based on the results of Nguyen et al.
(2010) for an I-girder with corrugated webs and those of
Barsoum and Gallagher (1970), is developed to study the
elastic LTB strength of a tapered I-girder with corrugated
webs. The corrugated web linearly tapers along the span
in this study. The element stiffness matrix is evaluated by
using four-point Gaussian quadrature. The results from
this program are verified with those from the commercial
software ABAQUS (2007) for a simply supported tapered
I-girder with corrugated webs under uniform moment and
moment gradient. It is found that the accuracy of the
developed FE program is reasonable and reliable. Through
FE investigations of the LTB of a simply supported
tapered I-girder with corrugated webs under uniform
moment using the developed FE program, the elastic
critical buckling moment increases with increase of the
taper ratios, ξ, and a new simple equation for the elastic
critical buckling moment is proposed for the purpose of
design. Finally, the LTB of the tapered I-girders with
corrugated webs under moment gradient with four types
of end restraint conditions: simply supported, warping
fixed, lateral bending fixed, and completely fixed has
been investigated, and a new equation for calculating the
elastic critical buckling moment is proposed, by utilizing
the moment modification factors suggested by Nguyen et
al. (2012). From comparisons between the results of the
new proposed equations and those of the developed FE
program, the proposed equation gives conservative values
for most cases, and the accuracy is reasonable. The new
equations are effective for designers to determine the
elastic LTB strength of the tapered I-girders with corrugated
webs under uniform moment and moment gradient, with
the four types of end restraint conditions mentioned
above.
Acknowledgment
The present work was supported by the Vietnamese
National Foundation for Science & Technology Development
(NAFOSTED), Ministry of Science & Technology, under
the project number 107.02-2012.27. Also, it was supported
by a grant (code 10 Technology Innovation E05) from
Construction Technology Innovation Program funded by
Ministry of Land, Transportation and Maritime Affairs
(MLTM) of Korean government.
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