Experimental and numerical investigation on web-post specimen from cellular beams with sinusoidal openings

The study is focused on the experimental and numerical analyses of isolated web-posts specimens with four opening quarters taken from whole cellular beams. The external loads are applied at the ends of two opening quarters to obtain well known internal forces in the cross sections along the analyzed quarters. The tests showed that the failure modes are characterized either by the formation of plastic hinges in the linear part or by local instability in the sinusoidal parts of the opening quarter similarly to those observed on the corresponding whole beams. A numerical model is built to analyze the behavior of the web-posts considering large displacements and plasticity of materials. The model validated by comparison with experimental results predicts well the failure mode and the ultimate load of the isolated web-posts. It can be used as a tool to develop more extensive studies to propose efficient and reliable design methods. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.