An experimental study on shear resistance of austenitic and duplex stainless steel plate girders with perforated webs

Stainless steel is increasingly being used in the field of engineering as building construction materials, as it has an inherent ability to resist corrosion, as well as other environmental benefits. When used as plate girders, web perforations are often required to accommodate building services. In the literature, no experimental study has been reported that investigates the shear resistance of austenitic and duplex stainless steel plate girders with perforated webs. This issue is addressed herein. A detailed experimental program is described comprising eight stainless steel plate girders. The plates are austenitic grade EN 1.4301 and duplex grade EN 1.4462, and the depth of web is fixed as 500 mm and 700 mm. For comparison, specimens with perforated webs and solid webs were tested. Prior to shear tests, the distribution of initial geometrical imperfections was determined through three-dimensional (3D) scanning. Finite element (FE) models incorporating the material non-linearity and initial geometric imperfections were then developed. The results of FE models were validated against the experimental results. Using the validated FE models, a parametric study comprising 182 FE models was then undertaken, and variables which were examined included local geometrical imperfections, aspect ratio, end conditions, hole ratio and stainless steel grades. The results suggested that for those members with a hole diameter - web height ratio of 0.6, the shear resistance was reduced by 52% on average due to the web perforation. The design rules given in Eurocodes, American Specification and those design recommendations proposed by Chen et al. (2023) were evaluated.