Natural frequency of a composite girder with corrugated steel web

This paper presents the natural frequency of a composite girder with corrugated steel web (CGCSW). A corrugated steel web has negligible in-plane axial stiffness, due to the unique characteristic of corrugated steel webs, which is called the accordion effect. Thus, the corrugated steel web only resists shear force. Further, the shear buckling resistance and out-of-plane stiffness of the web can be enhanced by using a corrugated steel web, since the inclined panels serve as transverse stiffeners. To take these advantages, the corrugated steel web has been used as an alternative to the conventional pre-stressed concrete girder. However, studies about the dynamic characteristics, such as the natural frequency of a CGCSW, have not been sufficiently reported, and it is expected that the natural frequency of a CGCSW is different from that of a composite girder with flat web due to the unique characteristic of the corrugated steel web. In this study, the natural frequency of a CGCSW was investigated through a series of experimental studies and finite element analysis. An experimental study was conducted to evaluate the natural frequency of CGCSW, and the results were compared with those from finite element analysis for verification purpose. A parametric study was then performed to investigate the effect of the geometric characteristics of the corrugated steel web on the natural frequency of the CGCSW. Finally, a simplified beam model to predict the natural frequency of a CGCSW was suggested.