Abstract

This paper presents a numerical investigation on the patch loading resistance of slender austenitic stainless steel plate girders. Current design provisions for the resistance to patch loading of stainless steel girders are based on the plastic collapse mechanism observed in experimental and numerical studies conducted for carbon steel girders, disregarding the strain hardening capacities of stainless steel. At present, strength-curves approaches are used within European standards to deal with stability problems in steel plated structural elements. In this regard, three parameters require special attention: the yield load for plastic resistance, the resistance function depending on element slenderness, and the elastic buckling load. In this paper, an experimental dataset is firstly collected from the literature for comparative analysis. Subsequently, an extensive parametric study is conducted through nonlinear finite element analyses covering a wide range of slender stainless steel I-girder sections. Then, a resistance function is calibrated throughout a statistical evaluation of experimental and numerical results. Finally, the results show significant improvements in the predicted patch loading resistances of slender stainless steel I-girders.