Strengthening Beam Sections of Industrial Buildings Against Lateral Torsional Buckling

Crane bridge girders and runway beams in industrial buildings are susceptible to lateral torsional buckling. When there is an interest to increase the rated capacity of a crane, these beams should be strengthened for the new load values. Welding additional steel members to a slender beam section is a method to increase the load-bearing capacity of the original beam. However, current beam design guidelines and steel design codes do not extensively address the lateral torsional buckling resistance of complex built-up and asymmetric steel sections. The objective of this analytical study is to investigate the effect of welding additional angle sections to the compression flange tips in order to increase the load-bearing capacity of rolled I-shape beams. To compare the original sections with the strengthened sections, finite element models are developed using shell elements. For the evaluated I-shaped sections, the lateral torsional buckling resistance of the beams is at least three times greater when the additional angles have been installed.

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