Steel girders subjected to concentrated loading - Validation of numerical simulations

Numerical studies of high strength steel girders subjected to concent rated loading were performed and compared with experimental data from the literature. The primary variables were the web slenderness and t he load cases: concentrated forces applied at one flange, opposite co ncentrated forces applied at two flanges, and concentrated forces app lied at an unstiffened girder end. The measured values used to identi fy the actual imperfections in the analyses were the out-of-flatness of the web and the twisting of the flanges. The correlation between t he experiments and the numerical predictions was good, and the error in the predicted ultimate strength was within 11 %. Especially for th e slender girder, the load-displacement curve and the different modes of failure are well predicted, and therefore numerical simulations m ay be used to refine and extent the parametric range. It is worth not ing that the post-critical response of compact girders subjected to p atch loading seems difficult to predict using numerical simulations.