Ultimate Strength of Tapered Bridge Girders Under Combined Bending and Shear

This paper presents an analytical study of the ultimate strength of tapered plate girders under combined bending and shear. A finite element model subjected to uniform bending stress without shear and to uniform shear stress without bending is developed. Standard imperfection models are applied to the girder model. The model is validated using available test results on web tapered girders. A parametric study is performed to investigate the effect of major design parameters such as web and flange slenderness, tapering angle, tapered panel aspect ratio on the ultimate buckling strength under combined shear and bending loads. The results are then used to develop simplified formulae which represent the interactive relationships of bending and shear for all possible magnitude and direction combinations.

View content