Elastic analysis of I-girders with tubular flange and corrugated web

This study aims to investigate the mechanism of I-girders with corrugated web and tubular flange, including the deformation and the stress distribution. Based on the accordion effect of the corrugated web, theoretical analysis was carried out to present analytical equations for predicting the defection and the stress by considering the large shear deformation of the corrugated web. The accuracy of the presented equations was verified through comparison with experimental results of three full scaled specimens and numerical results of specimens with different loads and different boundary conditions obtained from finite element analysis. Both experimental and numerical results indicate that plane section assumption is not satisfied for such I-girder under transverse load. Simplifying such I-girder to a conventional Euler Bernoulli beam overestimates the flexural stiffness and produces much lower prediction on the deflection and inaccurate prediction on the normal stress and the shear stress. The tubular flange with a relatively large height compared to a flat-plate flange can sustain about 20% of the shear force on the cross section. Sensitivity analysis shows that the presented analytical equations can produce more accurate predictions on both deflection and stress distribution of such I-girder compared to classical theory of Euler Bernoulli beam.