Lateral‐Torsional Buckling of welded I‐members with flame‐cut flanges: Experimental and numerical studies

Eurocode 3 design rules for the lateral stability of welded I‐members are based on the assumption of hot‐rolled flanges. In practice, a large amount of welded I‐section members is made of flame cut flanges. However, residual stresses of hot‐rolled and flame‐cut flanges are quite different. The latter are more favourable with respect to out‐of‐plane buckling. The beneficial effect of flame‐cuts commonly performed at the flanges tips is then neglected in design standards. A literature review of lateraltorsional buckling tests on welded I‐members with flame‐cut flanges highlights a scarcity of results on mono‐symmetric and/or non‐uniform members. In addition, tests are generally performed on stocky cross‐sections while welded members are usually slender. Lateral‐torsional buckling tests have thus been conducted on four S355 slender welded members made of flame‐cut flanges: two uniform beams and two tapered beams. Within both couples of beams, one had a doubly symmetric cross‐section, the other one being mono‐symmetric. Experimental results highlight the impact of tapering and/or increasing the compression flange thickness whatever the beam type.

These experimental tests are then modelled with shell finite elements considering imperfections, residual stresses and material laws measured experimentally. The results are in good agreement with experimental tests. Additional finite element analyses are performed varying the residual stresses distribution. A significant impact of the flange fabrication process is confirmed, flame‐cuts increasing substantially the lateral‐torsional buckling resistance.