Date of Award

5-2026

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Civil and Construction Engineering

First Advisor

Upul Attanayake, Ph.D., P.E.

Second Advisor

Jinseok Kim, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Yufeng Hu, Ph.D., P.E.

Keywords

Beam ends, capacity, holes, steel

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Open Access

Abstract

The presence of holes at steel beam ends can decrease the nominal resistance (capacity) of beam ends. Codes such as AASHTO LRFD and AISC include equations for evaluating the nominal resistance of steel beam ends. While these equations are appropriate for as-designed beam ends, they may not apply to deteriorated beam ends, such as those with holes. Thus, this study aims to develop procedures to calculate the capacity of steel beam ends with holes. First, the FEA of an as-designed beam is performed for capacity evaluation (numerical result). The latter is compared with the analytical result (as-designed beam capacity) to verify the excellent correlation between the two solutions. Then, holes are introduced at the beam end and within the bottom four inches of the web. The results are expressed as the ratio of the remaining capacity to the as-designed beam end capacity. Numerical results indicate that the hole length is the major factor affecting the capacity of both unstiffened and stiffened steel beam ends.

For unstiffened beam ends with an imperfection amplitude, defined as a function of the web out-of-plane deformation magnitude, less than or equal to 50% of the web thickness, the capacity represents 62% of the as-designed capacity when the length of the hole over the bearing is less than or equal to 67% of the bearing length. The capacity represents 52% of the original capacity when the hole length is between 67% and 80% of the bearing length. The remaining capacity represents 40% of the as-designed beam capacity when the hole length exceeds 80% of the bearing length. When the imperfection amplitude exceeds 50% of the web thickness, the capacity represents 56% of the as-designed capacity when the hole length is less than or equal to 67% of the bearing length. The capacity represents 50% of the original capacity when the hole length is between 67% and 80% of the bearing length. Otherwise, the remaining capacity represents 38% of the as-designed beam end capacity.

For stiffened beam ends, the remaining capacity is 39% of the as-designed beam end if the hole is located on both sides of the stiffener, or 74% in the case where the hole is located on one side of the stiffener.

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