Steel Arches

Out-of-plane stability
Subject
Arches are structures which are curved in elevation and
carry their main loads by means of compression and
bending. Their application is in bridges and large span
roofs of buildings.

Yarra River Bridge

Melbourne, Australia
Engineers Whilybird

Goal
The objective of the research is to gain new knowledge
on the out-of-plane behavior of steel arches and to derive
design rules on the basis of this knowledge. Apart from
the initial crookedness and twist, the bending process in
terms of residual stress, hardening and cross-sectional
imperfections has an effect on the arch behavior which
has to be quantified.

Wembley Stadium
London, UK
Sir Norman Foster & Partners

Results

Small numerical parameter study model showed the

potential use of buckling curves.

Experimental plan for tests.

Finite element analysis for bending process

executed.

Gateshead Millenium Bridge

Manchester, UK
Cooks, Carmichael, Withford

HE 100A
Test Specimen

1.2

Reduction Factor

1
0.8
0.6

Acknowledgement
The research is funded by the Netherlands
Institute for Metals Research (NIMR) and
Bouwen met Staal.

Buckling curve

0.4

= 60 degrees

0.2

= 120 degrees

= 90 degrees

= 150 degrees

0
0

0.5

1.5

2.5

Non-dimensional slenderness

3
Fpl
Fcr

Researcher

264

3.5

Roel Spoorenberg / r.c.spoorenberg@bwk.tue.nl

Supervisor

Bert Snijder / h.h.snijder@bwk.tue.nl

Program/Subprogram

Structural Design of Buildings / N.A.

Host University

Eindhoven University of Technology / Architecture, Building and Planning

Steel Arches

Out-of-plane stability
Roel Spoorenberg1, Bert Snijder2
1
PhD Researcher, r.c.spoorenberg@bwk.tue.nl
2
Supervisor, h.h.snijder@bwk.tue.nl
Eindhoven University of Technology, Department of Architecture, Building and Planning,

Subject
Arches are structures curved in elevation, which carry vertical loads to the supports by compressive
action in the arch-rib. Their main application is in bridges and large span roofs of buildings. Bridges
and buildings may be built with single freestanding arch-ribs for which out-of-plane stability is the
dominant design criterion. For these structures, the behavior is not fully understood and design rules
are not available in the literature to determine the out-of-plane stability.
Goals
It is the objective of this research to develop design rules for the out-of-plane stability of freestanding
arches, based on full understanding of their structural behavior and its influencing factors.
Research Question
How can the structural stability behavior of steel arches and its influencing factors be quantified and
translated to design rules?
Strategy
The scientific aim of the project is to gain new knowledge on the behavior of steel arches with respect
to lateral instability and to derive design rules on the basis of this knowledge for the inelastic spatial
stability of circular wide flange steel arches. It is the intention to develop buckling curves for spatial
stability of steel arches based on full scale laboratory tests already carried out and on numerically obtained data using an earlier developed and validated finite element model. The effect of the roller
bending process (altered mechanical properties, residual stresses and cross-sectional properties) and
initial crookedness and twist on the structural behavior of steel arches needs to be studied to determine the degree to which these issues need to be taken into account. Therefore it is necessary to
carry out experiments to investigate the hardening, residual stresses and cross-sectional imperfections. The roller bending process by which the arches are formed is therefore simulated with a finite
element model.
Expected Results
New design rules for the out-of-plane stability of hot-rolled wide flange steel arches which reflect the
structural behavior and take into account the effect of the roller bending process.
Sponsors
The research is funded by the Netherlands Institute for Metals Research (NIMR) and Bouwen met
Staal.
Prime Publication
Spoorenberg, R.C., Snijder, H.H., Hoenderkamp J.C.D. and Bakker, M.C.M., Effects of roller
bending on section dimensions and mechanical properties of arches. Eurosteel 2008 Conference, Graz (to be submitted)
Bakker, M.C.M., Spoorenberg, R.C., Snijder H.H. and Hoenderkamp J.C.D., In-plane plastic
capacity of steel circular arches. Eurosteel 2008 Conference, Graz (to be submitted)
Research Period
May 2007 May 2011

265