Ultimate Shear Resistance of Non-rigid End Post Steel Plate Girders

Several theories are available in the literature to predict the ultimate shear resistance of plate girders, generally known as tension field theories. It is already found out, by many researchers, that the prediction of the majority of the models is mostly over-conservative for non-rigid end post steel plate girders. So, there is a need for the development of accurate finite element models, which could predict the ultimate strength better than the available theoretical models. This paper makes a comparison between the ultimate shear resistance of 12 non-rigid end post girders, from experimental data available in the literature, and some of the prominent tension field prediction models, such as Basler’s model, the Cardiff model, and Hӧglund’s model. There are many factors which affect the ultimate shear resistance of girders such as geometric imperfections, material nonlinearity, and boundary conditions. All of these factors need to be addressed to arrive at an improved finite element analysis, which can accurately predict the ultimate shear resistance of the girder. This paper comprehensively describes the finite element analysis, which includes the selection of material model, initial imperfection, element type, meshing and analysis methodology, etc.