Numerical study on buckling of steel web plates with openings

Cellular and castellated steel beams are used to obtain higher stiffness and bending capacity using the same weight of steel. In addition, the beam openings may be used as a pass for different mechanical fixtures such as ducts and pipes. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of different parameters on both elastic and inelastic critical buckling stresses of steel web plates with openings. These parameters are plate aspect ratio; opening shape (circular or rectangular); end distance to the first opening; opening spacing; opening size; plate slenderness ratio; steel grade; and initial web imperfection. The web/flange interaction has been simplified by web edge restraints representing simply supported boundary conditions. A numerical parametric study has been performed through linear and nonlinear finite element (FE) models, where the FE results have been verified against both experimental and numerical results in the literature. The web plates are subject to in-plane linearly varying compression with different loading patterns, ranging from uniform compression to pure bending. A buckling stress modification factor (<i>