Shear strength of plate girder web panel at elevated temperature

This paper presents a theoretical model to predict the failure loads of plate girders with transverse stiffeners subjected to a specified constant temperature or isothermal condition. The work is based on classical plate girder theory at normal ambient conditions subjected to increasing load. The equations incorporating the temperature-dependent material properties and thermally-induced axial stress arising from surrounding structural restraint are derived. They can be used for the case when the plate girder is subjected to pure shear or to a combination of shear and axial stresses. To simplify the analysis, uniform temperature distribution is assumed within the full depth of web panel. Solution procedures are presented for the fire resistance analysis of web plate girder, either in terms of the shear strength corresponding to isothermal condition, or the limiting temperature for a prescribed set of constant shear force and axial thermal restraint. For both procedures, the predictions agree well with the finite element analyses.