A NUMERICAL STUDY OF CURVED STEEL I-GIRDERS SUBJECTED TO SHEAR

The use of steel I-girders that are curved in plan is common in civil engineering, being used in structures such as roads and footbridges. The current European design provisions for steel I girders are covered by Eurocode 3, namely in EN 1993-1-5. However, the guidance provided for shear resistance is only applicable to straight girders in plan. This paper presents a numerical study of the structural behavior of curved steel I-girders primarily subjected to shear, considering non-linear material behavior and geometrical nonlinearities and imperfections. The numerical results derived from the present study are compared with experimental and numerical results obtained by other authors and exhibit good agreement with them. The analysis of the results is mainly focused on the influence of the horizontal curvature on the elastic critical shear buckling force and the ultimate shear resistance of transversely stiffened curved steel I-girders. Recommendations for the applicability of design provisions for straight steel I-girders to the case of curved steel I-girders are provided.