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Civil Engineering

8-3-2010

Constructability Testing of Folded Plate Girders

Luke A. Glaser
University of Nebraska at Lincoln, lglaser3@gmail.com

Glaser, Luke A., "Constructability Testing of Folded Plate Girders" (2010). Civil Engineering Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research.
Paper 9.
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/civilengdiss/9

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CONSTRUCTABILITYTESTINGOF
FOLDEDPLATEGIRDERS
by
LukeA.Glaser

ATHESIS

PresentedtotheFacultyof
TheGraduateCollegeattheUniversityofNebraska
InPartialFulfillmentofRequirements
FortheDegreeofMasterofScience

Major:CivilEngineering

UndertheSupervisionofProfessorAtorodAzizinamini
Lincoln,Nebraska
August,2010

CONSTRUCTABILITYTESTINGOFCOMPOSITEFOLDEDPLATEGIRDERS
LukeA.Glaser,M.S.
UniversityofNebraska,2010
Adviser:AtorodAzizinamini

AnewsteelgirderbridgesystemwasdevelopedattheUniversityofNebraska.The
innovativegirderdesignisaboxgirderfoldedfromasinglesteelplatethathasa
trapezoidshapewithanopeningonthebottom.Thegirderhasapplicationinshort
spanbridgesandacceleratedconstructionsituations.Thestructuralperformanceofthe
girderrequiresinvestigationinallstagesofabridgeslifecycle.Thisthesiscontains
descriptionsandresultsfromthefirsttwotestsfromaseriesoftestsdevelopedto
evaluatethisnewgirdershape.Theobjectiveofthesetwotestswastoinvestigatethe
constructabilityofthegirders.Duringconstructionabridgeisinitsleaststable
conditionanditisimportantthatthebridgecomponentsexhibitbothadequate
strengthandstabilityduringthiscriticalstage.Tothisend,twogirdersweretestedin
flexureoverasimplespanasanoncompositebeamsimulatingtheloadingthegirders
wouldbesubjectedtoduringconstruction.
Theresultsofthetwotestsindicatethatthefoldedgirderasawhole,andits
components,provideadequatestrengthandstabilityatconstructionloadlevels.Failure
occurredatloadsthatwereabovenormalconstructionloadlevelsandresultedina

ductilefailuremode,whichisawelldocumentedbenefitofsteelcomponents.The
girdersremainedstablethroughallphasesofloadingincludingfailure.Thetopflange
wastheweakestcomponentofthebeamduringconstructionduetoitsroleasa
compressionelementthathasaslenderandunbracedform.Thecompressioninthe
topflangecausedlocalbucklinginthetopflangeevenatelasticloadlevels.Thiswas
thecauseforlossofstiffnessandfailureinbothspecimens.Incorporationofaridgeat
thecenterofthetopflangeofspecimens,resultsofwhicharenotreportedinthis
thesis,provedtoresolvethisveryearlybucklingissue.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Itisapleasuretothankthosewhomadethisthesispossible.IwouldliketothankDr.
Azizinaminiforprovidingtheopportunitytoperformthisresearch,andforhisguidance
andsupportthroughouttheproject.IalsowanttothankAaronYakelforhisregularly
soughtafterassistanceandexpertisethroughoutalloftheprojectsthatIworkedon.I
amindebtedtomycolleagueswhohelpedmedcompletemyresearch,especiallyKyle
BurnerandPeterHilsabeck.Iwouldliketothankmyfamilyandfriendsfortheirsupport
duringthelastcoupleofyears.Thisthesiswouldnothavebeenpossiblewithoutthe
supportofmylovingwifeChristinaandmysonJack.
LukeGlaser
TheuniversityofNebraskaLincoln
August,2010

TableofContents
LISTOFFIGURES...................................................................................................................................II
LISTOFTABLES.....................................................................................................................................V
1

INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
1.1
1.2
1.3

TESTSPECIMENSANDPROCEDURES............................................................................................5
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4

STEELPROPERTIES.............................................................................................................................18
TESTA1RESULTS.............................................................................................................................22
TESTB1RESULTS..............................................................................................................................50

CONCLUSIONS............................................................................................................................74
4.1
4.2

TESTSPECIMENS.................................................................................................................................5
TESTSETUP.......................................................................................................................................9
INSTRUMENTATION...........................................................................................................................11
TESTPROCEDURES............................................................................................................................14

TESTRESULTSANDDISCUSSION..................................................................................................18
3.1
3.2
3.3

PROBLEMSTATEMENT.........................................................................................................................2
RESEARCHOBJECTIVE..........................................................................................................................4
CONTENT..........................................................................................................................................4

SUMMARY.......................................................................................................................................74
CONCLUSIONS..................................................................................................................................75

BIBLIOGRAPHY...........................................................................................................................77

ii

ListofFigures
Figure11Foldedplategirdercrosssection....................................................................................3
Figure21Platefoldingprocess.......................................................................................................6
Figure22Foldedplategeometry....................................................................................................7
Figure23Girderbearingplateandstiffenerdimensions...............................................................7
Figure24Tieplatedetails...............................................................................................................8
Figure25Girderdimensions...........................................................................................................8
Figure26Testsetup.......................................................................................................................9
Figure27Girderbearingsystem..................................................................................................10
Figure28TestA1setup................................................................................................................11
Figure29Sectionandpotlocationlabels.....................................................................................12
Figure210TestA1Straingagelabelsbysection..........................................................................13
Figure211TestB1straingagelabelsbysection..........................................................................14
Figure212Loadpoints.................................................................................................................15
Figure213DisconnectedtieplateatsectionH............................................................................16
Figure214TestB1setup..............................................................................................................17
Figure31SteelStressStainplotfromTestA1.............................................................................21
Figure32MomentdeflectioncurveofTestA1............................................................................22
Figure33MomentdeflectionplotofTestA1..............................................................................24
Figure34SpecimenAbeforetesting............................................................................................25
Figure35SpecimenAduringtesting............................................................................................25
Figure36Topflangebeforeloading.............................................................................................26
Figure37Topflangeduringloading.............................................................................................26
Figure38Girderwebbeforeloading............................................................................................27
Figure39Webdeformationfromloading....................................................................................27
Figure310Insideoffoldedplategirderafterfailure...................................................................28
Figure311Northsideofgirderfacingeastshowinggirderdeflectionandwebbuckling...........29
Figure312Northsideofgirderfacingeastshowinggirderdeflectionandwebbuckling...........29
Figure313MomentdisplacementplotfromPotP7duringphase1loading..............................30
Figure314MomentdisplacementplotfrompotP10duringphase1loading............................31
Figure315MomentdisplacementplotfrompotP2duringphase1loading..............................32
Figure316Flangeseparationcomparisonat195kipft...............................................................33
Figure317(left)Flangeandtieplateboltholealignmentafterloading,(right)girdermovement
atsupport.......................................................................................................................................33
Figure318Tieplatestraindata....................................................................................................34
Figure319StrainsatsectionCduringthreeloadingsequences..................................................36
Figure320SectionEtopflangestrains........................................................................................37
Figure321BottomflangestrainsatsectionE..............................................................................38

iii

Figure322StrainsatsectionF......................................................................................................39
Figure323StrainatsectionG.......................................................................................................40
Figure324Straindistributionillustration.....................................................................................41
Figure325StraindistributionatsectionEatconstructionmoment...........................................43
Figure326StraindistributionofsectionFatconstructionmoment...........................................44
Figure327Straindistributionatconstructionmoment...............................................................45
Figure328SectionEstraindistributionat2timesconstructionmoment...................................46
Figure329SectionEstrainsat3timesconstructionmoment.....................................................46
Figure330SectionEstrainsatultimatemoment........................................................................46
Figure331SectionFstrainsatconstructionloading....................................................................48
Figure332SectionFstrainsat2timesconstructionloads..........................................................48
Figure333SectionFstrainsatthreetimesconstructionloads...................................................48
Figure334SectionFstrainsatultimateloading..........................................................................49
Figure335FoldedplategirdertestB1setup...............................................................................50
Figure336Momentdeflectioncurvesfromthetwotests..........................................................51
Figure337Topflangeattwicetheconstructionmoment...........................................................52
Figure338TestB1at106kip.......................................................................................................53
Figure339TestB1topflangeat120kip.......................................................................................54
Figure340TestB1webat140kip.................................................................................................54
Figure341TestB1tieplateat140kip..........................................................................................55
Figure342TestB1topflangeat140kip.......................................................................................55
Figure343140kip.........................................................................................................................56
Figure344Topflangeat137kipafterfailure..............................................................................57
Figure345Girderoutsideloadpointsat137kiponwaybackdown..........................................57
Figure346Girderdeflectionafterunloading...............................................................................58
Figure347Permanentdeformationafterunloading...................................................................59
Figure348Girderdeformationatmidspanofgirderafterunloading.........................................59
Figure349Girderpermanentdeformationafterunloading.Webbuckling...............................60
Figure350Figurelabelsshowingtimeatwhichphotosweretaken...........................................61
Figure351Flangeseparationmomentdisplacementgraph.......................................................62
Figure352Momentvs.straindatafortieplatesatsectionFandD..........................................63
Figure353ComparisonoftieplatestraindatafromTestA1andTestB1..................................64
Figure354Straindistributionatconstructionmoment...............................................................65
Figure355Straindistributionattwotimetheconstructionmoment.........................................66
Figure356Straindistributionat3timetheconstructionmoment.............................................66
Figure357Straindistributionat4timetheconstructionmoment.............................................67
Figure358Straindistributionat6timestheconstructionmoment............................................67
Figure359Straindistributionatultimatemoment.....................................................................68
Figure360Straindistributionat614kipft.justbeforeunloading.Atultimatedeflection........68
Figure361Straindistributionafterunloading.............................................................................68

iv

Figure362Girderdeformationillustration..................................................................................69
Figure363Loadandstraindatahistory.......................................................................................71
Figure364MomentstrainrelationshipatbottomofsectionF...................................................72
Figure365MomentStrainrelationshipatbottomofsectionsEandG.......................................72

Listoftables
Table11Summaryoftestspecimengeometry..............................................................................3
Table12Summaryoftestingprogram...........................................................................................4
Table31Foldedplategirdertensiletestresults..........................................................................20

Chapter

Introduction

IntheUnitedStates,therearenearly700,000bridges.Around45%ofthosebridgesare
lessthan60feet(FHWANBIdata).Manyofthesestructuresaredeficientandneedto
berepairedorreplaced.Aninnovativegirderdesignhasbeendevelopedatthe
NationalBridgeResearchOrganizationattheUniversityofNebraskaLincoln.Thegirder
hasapplicationinshortspanbridgesandacceleratedconstructionsituations.The
innovativegirderdesignisaboxgirderfoldedfromasteelplatethathasatrapezoid
shapewithanopenbottomandwillbereferredtoasafoldedplategirder.
Theshapeofthefoldedplategirdercausesittohavealargeamountoflateralstiffness.
Thisstiffnesseliminatestheneedforcrossframesbetweenthegirders.Theelimination
ofcrossframesfromthesystemisoneofthereasonsthesystemismorecosteffective

thanthetraditionalIbeamsystem.TheopenbottomgeometryoftheFoldedPlate
makestheinspectionoftheFoldedPlatesystemquickandeasycomparedtotraditional
boxgirders.Simplifiedinspectionprocedurestranslatetoreducedinspectioncosts.
Thetechnologyusedinfabricationisthesamethatisusedinthefabricationofsteel
utilitypoles.Becausethegirderisfabricatedusingexistingtechnologyitshouldnotbe
anissuetofindfabricatorswiththecapabilitytofabricatethesegirders.

1.1 ProblemStatement
Theperformanceofthefoldedplategirderneedstobetestedtodeterminebehaviorin
twomainaspectsofabridgeslife.First,thebeammustbeabletohandleconstruction
loads,andthenthebeammustbeabletohandletheloadingitwillexperienceoverthe
lifeofthebridge.
AtestingprogramhasbeendevelopedfortestingoftheFoldedplategirder.Table11
summarizesthespecimenstestedtothisdate.Table12summarizestheteststhat
havebeenperformed.ThisreportfocusesontheconstructabilitytestingofSpecimens
AandB,whicharetheobjectsofTestA1andB1outlinedinthetable.Foldedplate
girdersweredesignedtobecompositegirdersfortheservicelifeofthebridge.During
construction,thegirderswillnotbecomposite,soitisimportantthatthegirderscan
handletheconstructionloads.Testswereperformedontwononcompositefolded
plategirderstodeterminehowthegirderswillperformduringconstruction.

Table11Summaryoftestspecimengeometry

Units

Trap Ridge
Bend
Angle
YieldStress
width Height
Radius

Width

TopFlange

in

in

in

in

in

in

in

in

in

in

degree

in

ksi

45.47
45.47
45.47
43.85
43.85

30
30
30
28.78
28.78

10
10
10
11.8
11.8

0.375
0.375
0.375
0.375
0.375

20.7
20.7
20.7
21.87
21.87

20.72
20.72
20.72
16.50
16.50

24.38
24.38
24.38
24.50
24.50

46.42
46.42
46.42
44.50
44.50

0*
0*
0*
1.0
1.0

75
75
75
75
75

2
2
2
1.5
1.5

65
65
65
50
50

Label
A

A
24.75
B
24.75
C
24.75
D
25.88
E
25.88
*Noridgeintopflange
Specimen

Bottom
Side
Trap
Thickness
Opening
Flange
Length
Height

Height

C
K

E
F

A H
L

G
B
J

Figure11Foldedplategirdercrosssection

Table12Summaryoftestingprogram
Tests
Stiffener @
Deck
load point
A1
A
41
Constructability
No
No
B1
B
41
Constructability
Yes
No
C1
C
41
Fatigue
No
Yes
C2
C
41
Ultimate
No
Yes
D1
D
46
Constructability
Yes
No
E1
E
46
Ultimate
No
Yes
E2
E
22
Shear
No
Yes
E3
E
22
Shear
No
No
E4
E
22
Shear
Yes
No
* Length specifies the span length from centerline of support to centerline of support
ID

Specimen

Length*

Type

Comments

Galv.
Galv.
Galv.
Galv.

1.2 ResearchObjective
Theobjectiveofthisinvestigationistotesttheperformanceofthenewlydeveloped
foldedplategirderwhenloadedinanoncompositesituation.Theinvestigationwill
includebothoverallgirderperformanceaswellasperformanceofindividual
componentsthatcomprisethegirder.

1.3 Content
Thefollowingreportcontainstheresultsandanalysisofconstructabilitytestingoftwo
foldedplategirderstestedasnoncompositebeams.Thespecimendescriptions,test
setup,procedures,testingresults,analysis,andconclusionsarecoveredinthefollowing
sections.

Chapter

TestSpecimensandProcedures

Thefollowingsectionswillprovideadescriptionoftestspecimensandthetesting
procedures.Thedescriptionofthetestspecimenswillincludefabrication,section
geometry,testsetup,andinstrumentation.Thedescriptionofthetestprocedureswill
outlinethetestprogressionandexplaindifferencesbetweenthetestingofthetwo
specimens.NomenclaturefortestingincludesthespecimenIDandthetestindex.Test
A1isthefirsttestonSpecimenA.TestB1isthefirsttestofSpecimenB.

2.1 TestSpecimens
Thefoldedplategirderresemblesaninvertedsteelboxgirder,wherethegirderiscold
bentinsteadofwelded.Thereareaspectsofthefoldedplategirderthatareunique
comparedtoboxgirders.First,theyarefoldedfromasingleplateofsteelinsteadof

beingbuiltupfromweldedplates.Second,theopenbottomofthefoldedplategirder
simplifiesinspection,eliminatingtheinboxinspectionthatexistsforboxgirders.Third,
thefoldedplategirdercannotbecamberedaseasilyastubgirdersbecauseofhowthey
arefabricated,thisisoneofthecontrollingfactorsonmaximumgirderlength.Another
controllingfactorforgirderlengthisthelengthofthepressbrakethatisusedtobend
thesteelplatesintogirders.
ThegirderisfabricatedfromasingleplateofGrade65steel.Figure21showsthe
fabricationstepsthataredeterminedbythegeometryofthepressinrelationtothe
geometryofthegirderplate.

Figure21Platefoldingprocess
Thefabricationofthegirderbeginswithaflatplate,step1.Whatwillbecomethe
bottomflangesarefoldedinsteps2and3.Insteps4and5,thecornersbetweenthe
topflangeandthewebsareformed.Figure22showsthefinalshapeandgeometryof
thegirdercrosssection.

30.000

R2.000

0.375
20.7

R2.000

24.751
75
R2.000

10.000

75
R2.000

20.718
45.468

Figure22Foldedplategeometry
Bearingstiffenersandplatesareweldedtothegirders,afterthebasicgirdershapeis
formed,atwhatwillbethecenterlineofsupportforthegirderends.Figure23shows
thedetailsofthebearingplatesandstiffeners.

Plate 3/4"

30.000

1/4"

2.435
105
1/4"

1/4"

143
20.7
128

1/4"

75

1/4"

3.173
1/4"

1/4"

Plate 40x12x1

40.718

Figure23Girderbearingplateandstiffenerdimensions

4 1.0" Bolts

3.500

Plate 40.0x5.0x0.5

3.141

1.0625

3.000

27.000

3.000

Figure24Tieplatedetails
Tieplatesthatconnectthebottomflangesarethenboltedtothebottomflanges.
Figure24showsthetieplatedetails.Figure25showsthegirderdimensionandthe
locationsoftieplates,bearingplates,andbearingstiffeners.

6"
1/4"

1/4"

1/4"

6"

10"

10'

5'

5'

5'

5'

10'

6"

6"

10"
1/4"

10"

1/4"

10"

10"

Bearing Plate
Bearing Stiffener

Tie Plates

Bottom View

Bearing Plate
Bearing Stiffener

42'

Top View

Figure25Girderdimensions
Twosimilarfoldedplategirdersweretested.Thegirdersare42ftlongandtestedover
aspanof41ft.TheGirderswerefabricatedusing42x108x3/8grade65weathering
steelplate.Theplatewasfoldedasdescribedintheprevioussectionresultingina
girderthatis24.75tall.

Load

Load
41'

9'

Support

Floor

Figure26Testsetup

2.2 TestSetup
Bothgirdersweresetuptobetestedoverasimplespanof41ft.Thesupportswere
madefromreinforcedconcrete,whichwasposttensionedtothefloortoeliminateany
movementofthesupportsduringtesting.Thegirdersetonrockerslocateddirectly
beneaththebearingstiffenerofthegirdertoallowforrotationofthegirderduring
testingascanbeseeninFigure27.TherockerssetontwolayersofTeflontoallowfor
anyhorizontalmovementduringloading.

10

Figure27Girderbearingsystem
LoadwasappliedusingspreaderbeamswithThreadedrodsthatpassedthroughthe
floorandintothebasementascanbeseeninFigure28.Bearingpadswereplaced
betweenthespreaderbeamsandthetopofthegirder.Inthebasement,therewere
hydrauliccylindersoneachbarthatcreatedthedownwardloadingduringtesting.
Bracingwasaddedbetweenspreaderstostabilizetheloadsetupduringassembly.

11

Figure28TestA1setup

2.3 Instrumentation
Avarietyofinstrumentationwasusedtomeasuretheloading,deflection,andlocal
deformationsofthebeamduringtesting.Straininflanges,webs,bentcorners,andtie
plateswereareasofinterestduringtesting.Othermonitoredvalueswereoverall
deflectionofthebeamunderloadinganddeflectionofbottomflangesrelativetoeach
other.
AMEGADACdataacquisitionsystemfromOptimElectronicswasalsousedforthe
experiments.Itspurposewastomonitorsensorsinstalledonthegirder.Straingages,
pressurecells,andwirepotentiometerbasedlineardisplacementtransducers(pots)are
wireddirectlytotheOptimElectronicsMEGADACdatalogger.Thedataloggeris

12

connectedtoacomputerthathasTCSforWindowsProgramsoftware.Thesoftware
allowstheusertospecifydifferentsensortypes,acommonsampleinterval,and
immediatedownloadtotheonsitecomputer.
Loadingwasmonitoredbymeasuringthepressureinthecylindersusingpressurecells
thatmeasuredthehydraulicadvanceandreturnpressuresateachcylinderinthe
basement.Girderdeflectionsandbottomflangeseparationsweremeasuredwithpots
atthelocationsshowninFigure29.Pots18ranbetweenthegirderbottomflangesto
monitorseparationoftheflanges.Pots913werelocatedbetweenthefloorofthelab
andthebottomofthegirdertomeasuredeflections.

P11

P10
P1

P2

P14

P3

P4
P9

P5

P6

P13
P7

P8
P12

B C D E F G H J
Figure29Sectionandpotlocationlabels

Linearstraingagesandrosettestraingageswerethetwotypesofbondablefoilstrain
gagesusedtomeasurestrainsinthesteelforthetwotests.Lineargageswereput
paralleltomainstraindirections.Linearstraingageswereusedontheflangesandthe
websofthegirders.Rosettesaredesignedfordeterminingprinciplestressesand
strains.Theyhavethreegridsorientedat0,45,and90.Rosettestraingageswere

13

usedonthecornerbendbetweenthebottomflangeandtheweb.Thestraingage
locationsforA1canbeseeninFigure210.
A-T

B-T

C-T

A-W

C-W

B-B
A-B

C-B

B-P

B
E-T1

E-T2

E-T3

F-T1

C
F-T2

F-T3

E-T4
E-W1

F-W1

F-W2

E-W2
D-B1

D-B2

E-R1

E-R2 E-B3

F
J-T

G-T3

G-W1

G-W2

J-W

H-B1
G-B2

G-B1

F-B2
F-P

D
G-T2

F-R2 F-B1

E-B4

E-B1 E-B2

D-P

G-T1

F-R1

H-B2
H-P

J-B

Figure210TestA1Straingagelabelsbysection
Thelargeletteringbeloweachgirdercrosssectiondesignatesthesectionalongthe
lengthofthegirder.Figure29showsthesectionlabelsalongthelengthofthegirder.
ThesmalllabelsinFigure210arethegagenames,e.g.FT1isthegagelocatedat
sectionFonthetopflange.

14

TestA1usedmoregaugingtoprovideacompletepictureofthegirderbehaviorduring
loading.Figure211showsthegaugingforTestB1.

A-T

E-T1

E-T2

E-T3

E-T4
E-W1

A-W

E-W2
D-B1
A-B

F-T1

F-T3

G-T1

F-W2

F-R2 F-B1

E-R2 E-B3

G-T2

E-B4

E-B1 E-B2

F-W1

F-R1

E-R1

D-P

A
F-T2

D-B2

G-T3

G-W1

G-W2

F-B2
G-B2

G-B1

F-P

Figure211TestB1straingagelabelsbysection

2.4 TestProcedures
Thegoalofthetestswastoobservehowthegirderswouldbehaveinanoncomposite
situationsuchasthatexperiencedduringconstruction.Sincethecontinuousloadingof
awetconcreteslabwasunabletobesimulated,thesystemwastestedusingtwo
discreteloadpoints.Theuseoftwoloadpointsprovidesaconstantmomentbetween
theloadpoints.Thelocationoftheloadpointswasselectedtoencompasstheareaof
greatestinterest.Twosymmetricloadpointswerelocated4.5feetfromthespan
centerlineascanbeseeninFigure212.

15

Figure212Loadpoints
Thefoldedplategirderswereloadedinflexureaftertheexperimentwassetupandthe
testingequipmentwaswiredandrunning.TestA1andTestB1usedthesameloading
configuration.Loadwasappliedtothegirdersuptofailure.
TestA1hadtwophases.Theobjectiveofthefirstphasewastoexaminethe
effectivenessofthetieplates.Theobjectiveofthesecondphasewastotestthegirder
whenloadedtofailure.
Duringthefirstphase,thegirderwasloadedthreetimesatlowloadrangeswhere
girderbehaviorwasbothlinearandelastic.First,thegirderwasloadedwithalltie
platesinplaceandthenunloaded.ThemiddlethreetieplatesatsectionsD,F,andH
wereremovedforthesecondloading.Afterthegirderwasunloadedagain,thetie
plateswerereinstalledanditwasloadedagain.

16

SpecimenAwasloadedtofailureduringthesecondphaseofloading.Duringultimate
loading,themiddlethreetieplateswerenotconnected.Thetieplateswere
disconnectedbyremovingtheboltsatoneendofthetieplatesascanbeseeninFigure
213.TheSpecimenAwastestedwithoutstiffenerplatesattheloadingpoints.The
secondspecimen,SpecimenB,hadthestiffenerplatesaddedattheloadpointsto
reducethelocaldeformationbehaviorduetostressconcentrationscausedbythe
concentratedloads.DuringTestB1,alltieplatesremaininstalledthroughouttesting.
SpecimenBwasloadedtofailure.

Figure213DisconnectedtieplateatsectionH

17

ShearstudscanbeseenonthetopflangeofSpecimenBinFigure214.SpecimenAdid
nothaveshearstudsonthetopflange.Originally,SpecimenBwasgoingtobeusedfor
acompositetest.Afterthefirsttest,itwasdesiredtodoasecondnoncompositetest.
SpecimenBwasavailableandwasselected.Theshearstudswereremovedfromthe
loadpointssothatloadingwouldnotbeaffected.Thepresenceorabsenceofshear
studshadnoeffectontheperformanceofthegirders.

Figure214TestB1setup

18

Chapter

TestResultsandDiscussion

Thischapterprovidesapresentationoftheexperimentaldataandobservationsfrom
TestA1andTestB1.Behavioratconstructionloadlevelsandfailuremechanismswillbe
thefocusoftesting.Materialpropertiesarecoveredinthefirstsection.Thefollowing
sectionswillpresenttheresultsfromthetwotests.

3.1 SteelProperties
Tensiletestswereperformedonsamplesfrombothgirdersaftertestinghadbeen
completed.Sampleswerecutfromthewebofthegirder,neartheendofthebeam,
wherestainsremainedwellwithintheelasticlimitduringtesting.Sampleswerecutin
twodirections;samplesthatranparalleltothelengthofthegirderorlongitudinaland
samplesthatranperpendiculartothelengthofthegirderortransverse.

19

SamplesweretestedaccordingtoASTMA370.SamplesweretestingusingaMTS
hydraulicloadframe.Thecomputerprogramthatrunstheloadframeallowstheuser
toprogramtheloadingsequenceanddesiredstrainrates.Theloadframeforceand
displacementarerecordeddirectlyfromtheloadframesensorstothecontrolprogram.
Anextensometerisattachedtoeachsteeltensilespecimenafteritissecuredintheload
frame.Theextensometermeasuresthestrainatthedesiredsectionofthesample.
Strainrateaffectstheresultsoftensiontestingofsteel;testdatacanbeshiftedmore
than20%ifcareisnotexercisedinconductingthetensiontest(Galambos,1976).ASTM
specifiesstrainratelimitsusedforsteeltensiletests.
Testingbeginswithaconstantstainrateduringtheelasticportionofthetensiletest.
Afteryieldingbegins,thereisaprocedure,outlinedbytheSSRC,forobtainingthestatic
tensileyieldstrength.Whenthestrainreachesapproximately0.2%offsetthetest
shouldbeinterruptedbyholdingaconstantstrainorstoppingthecrossheadmotion.
Theloadframemotionispausedandheldataconstantdisplacementuntiltheloadis
stabilized.Aftertheloadstabilizesthestrainratecanberesumed.Thisprocedureof
strainholdingshouldbeperformedtwomoretimesintheyieldregion.Theresultsof
thisprocessofdeterminingstaticyieldstrengthcanbeseeninFigure31asthethree
dipsintheyieldregion.Thestaticyieldstressisrecordedasthelowvaluesateachof
theinterruptions.Thethreevaluesarethenaveraged.Afterstrainhardeningbegins
thestrainratewasincreasedaccordingtoASTMproceduresuntilfailureoccurs.Thisis
toreducetheamountoftimeeachtestrequires.

20

Table31Foldedplategirdertensiletestresults
YieldStress
(ksi)

UltimateStress
(ksi)

A1/Longitudinal

73.5

89.5

A1/Transverse

73.5

89.1

B1/Longitudinal

71.9

88.4

B1/Transverse

73.7

89.9

Test/Direction

Groupsoffoursamplesweretestedinbothdirectionsforeachgirder,resultingin16
samplestested.Theresultsfromeachgroupoffourwereaveragedandcanbeseenin
Table31Foldedplategirdertensiletestresults.Figure31showsatypicalstressstrain
graphthatresultedfromthetensiletests.Thisspecificgraphisfromasamplethatwas
fromthefirstgirdertestedandorientedinthelongitudinaldirection.Recallthatthe
steelspecifiedwasGrade65W.

21

Stress(ksi)

95
90
85
80
75
70
65
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

Strain(in/in)

Figure31SteelStressStainplotfromTestA1

22

3.2 TestA1Results
Thefirstgirderwastestedfollowingtheproceduresdescribedinthepreviouschapter.
SpecimenAwastestedwithoutstiffenerplatesattheloadingpoints.Thissectionwill
examinetheresultsfromthetesting.Theoverallperformanceofthegirderandthe
performanceofspecificcomponentsofthegirderincludingtheperformanceofthetie
platesandtheaffecttheyhaveongirderbehaviorwillbediscussed.Straindistributions
throughoutthegirderwillalsobeexamined.
Figure32showsthemomentdeflectiongraphforTestA1.Thegraphcontainsdata
fromtheverticalpot,P11,locatedatmidspan.Theorangelinerepresentsthe
maximumamountofmomentthatwouldbeexperiencedduringconstruction.

1000
900
800

Moment(kipft)

700
600
500

P11

400

Construction

300
200
100
0
0

3
Deflection(in)

Figure32MomentdeflectioncurveofTestA1

23

Thegirderdeflectslinearlyuppasttheconstructionmomentanduptoroughly2times
theconstructionmoment.Afterthis,thegraphslowlystartstodepartfromthelinear
andcurveeversoslightly.Thisiswhentheconcentratedloadingreachedlevelsto
beginbucklingthetopflangeascanbeseeninFigure37.Astheloadincreasedthe
deformationofthetopflangeincreasedwhichinturnreducedtheabilityofthegirder
toresistflexure,whichisreflectedinthedata.Thetopflangebucklingincreasedupto
theultimateloadingwhenthewebalsobegantobuckle.Thegirdercouldnolonger
takeanyadditionalloadandloadbegantodecreaseasdeflectioncontinuedtoincrease.
Thebeamwasloadedupto5.3inofdeflectionatwhichpointthegirderwasunloaded
andtestingwasconcluded.
Figure34showsallverticalpotdatafromthemomentdeflectiongraphforthe
ultimatetest.Thecurvesinthegrapharefrompotsthatwerelocatedattheloadpoints
andatmidspan.RecallfromFigure29thelocationofthepots.P9andP10wereat
thewestloadpointoneachflangeandP12andP13werelocatedattheeastload
sectiononeitherflange.Thedeflectionsofthefourpotslocatedattheloadpointsall
match,astheyshould,becausetheyarealllocatedsymmetricallyaboutthecenterof
thespan.Thepotatmidspan,P11,hasaslightlyhigherdeflectionasexpected.

24

Specimen1

1000
900

Moment(kipft)

800
700

P9

600

P10

500

P11

400

P12

300

P13

200
Construction

100
0
0

3
Deflection(in)

Figure33MomentdeflectionplotofTestA1
Figure34throughFigure39showthegirderbeforeandafterthetopflangeandweb
buckle.Figure310showsthebucklingofthetopflangeandwebfrominsidethegirder.

25

Figure34SpecimenAbeforetesting

Figure35SpecimenAduringtesting

26

Figure36Topflangebeforeloading

Figure37Topflangeduringloading

27

Figure38Girderwebbeforeloading

Figure39Webdeformationfromloading.

28

Figure310Insideoffoldedplategirderafterfailure
Figure311showsthenorthsideofthegirderafterloadingwiththeclosespreader
beambeingthewestloadpoint.Thesetwofiguresdoagoodjobofshowingtheweb
bucklingandthefactthegirderhasbuckledundertheeastloadpointmorethanthe
westloadpoint.Thiscanalsobeseeninthemomentdeflectiongraph,Figure32,and
isthereasonthatthepotsP12andP13showhigherdeflectionsthanP9andP10after
thepeakload.

29

Figure311Northsideofgirderfacingeastshowinggirderdeflectionandwebbuckling

Figure312Northsideofgirderfacingeastshowinggirderdeflectionandwebbuckling

30

Oneofthegoalsoftestingwastotesttheeffectofthetieplatesthatconnectthe
bottomflanges.Thetieplatesarekeycomponentstomaintainingthegirdershape
duringloadingbyresistingseparationandrotationofthebottomflanges.Aseriesof
loadingsequenceswerecarriedouttoexaminetheperformanceandaffectofthetie
plates.
Initiallythebeamwasloadedwithlowloadsrelativetotheultimatecapacityofthe
girder.Thefirstloadingwasperformedwithallofthetieplatesinplace.Thespecimen
wasloadedtoamomentof210kipft,andcanbeseeninFigure313astheredline.
ThegraphisshowingthedatafromthepotP7locatedatthetieplateatmidspanofthe
girder.Linearelasticbehaviorcanbeseen.Theflangemovementwasverysmall.The
specimenwasunloaded,tieplatesatD,F,andHwereremoved,andthespecimenwas
loadedto270kipfeet.TheFigureshowsthesecondloadingwithapurpleline.

350.00

Moment(kipft)

300.00

WithoutTiePlates
250.00

WithTiePlates

200.00
150.00
100.00
50.00
0.00
0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

Flangeseperation(in)

Figure313MomentdisplacementplotfromPotP7duringphase1loading

31

Theslopeofthislineisdifferent,resultinginmuchgreaterflangeseparationwiththe
sameloading.Thegirderwasthenunloaded.Thetieplateswereboltedbackinplace
andthespecimenwasloadedagainto294kipft.ThebluelineinFigure313showsthis
finalloading.Afterreinstallingthetieplates,thegirderregainsthesamestiffnessthat
wasdisplayedbythefirstloadingwiththetieplatesinstalled.
Figure314showsthegirderdeflectionfromtheverticalpotP10forthesamethree
loadingsequences.Unliketheflangeseparation,thegirderdeflectionisnotaffectedby
thetieplatespresenceattheseloadlevels.

350.00

Moment(kipft)

300.00
250.00
200.00
150.00
100.00
50.00
0.00
0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

Deflection(in)
Figure314MomentdisplacementplotfrompotP10duringphase1loading

32

350.00
300.00

Moment(kipft)

250.00
200.00
150.00
100.00
50.00
0.00
0.000

0.001

0.002

0.003

0.004

Flangeseperation(in)

0.005

Figure315MomentdisplacementplotfrompotP2duringphase1loading
Ofthefivetieplates,theonesthatwereremovedwerethethreeinsideplates.Thetwo
exteriorplateslocated10feetfromeachsupportremainedthroughouttesting.PotP2
islocatedatthewesttieplate.NoteinFigure315thatthegreatestmovement,
regardlessofthenumberoftieplates,waslessthanonehundredthofaninch,which
shouldbeexpectedatatieplatelocation.
Figure316isacomparisonofallhorizontalpotdata,ataloadof195kipft,basedon
thepresenceoftieplates.Theredseriesiswithtieplatesinplace.Thedeflectionsare
allonthemagnitudeofthousandthsofaninch.Theblueseriesshowsdatafromthe
samepotsbutthedataisfromloadingwithoutthethreetieplatesinstalled.Theflange
separationisonthemagnitudeoftenthsofaninch.Theresultisthattieplatesareboth
necessaryandeffectiveatpreventingflangeseparationandmaintainingconsistent
girdergeometry.

33

WithoutTiePlates

WithTiePlates

0.14

FlangeSeparation(in.)

0.12
0.1
0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
0
P1

0.02

P2

P8

P4

P5

P6

P7

P8

0.04

3 4

Figure 3-16 Flange separation comparison at 195 kip-ft

Followingthethreeloadsequences,thetieplatesatsectionsD,F,andHwereremoved
andtheultimatetestwasperformed.Figure317showsthegirderdeformationafter
testingwasconcluded.Theboltholesinthebottomflangeandtieplate,whichwere
oncealigned,arenowoffsetbecauseofbottomflangeseparation.

Figure317(left)Flangeandtieplateboltholealignmentafterloading,(right)girder
movementatsupport.

34

Straingageswereplacedonthetieplatestomonitortieplateperformance.The
followinggraphofmomentvs.strain,Figure318,showsstrainsexperiencebythetie
plates.

BP

BP

DP

FP

HP

1000
900
800

600
500
400

Moment(kipft)

700

300
200
100
0
100

80

60

40

20

Microstrain

Figure318Tieplatestraindata
NotethetieplateatsectionBwasalwaysconnected;TieplatesatsectionsD,F,andH
wereconnectedfortwoloadingsequences,anddisconnectedinbetweenandforthe
ultimateloading.Thatiswhythestraindatainfigureonlygoestoamomentof300kip
ftforthethreegagesatsectionD,F,andH.Thegraphhastwoseriesofstraindatafor
straingageBP.TheblueserieswasfromthesameloadingsequenceastheseriesforD
P,FP,andHP.TheotherseriesofdataforBPisfromtheultimateloadingsequence.
Asexpected,thestrainsatsectionBwerethelowest.SectionsDandH,whichare
symmetrictothecenterofthebridge,havethesamestrains.Basedonthemoments

35

alongthespan,sectionsDandHshouldhavethesameorlessstrainthansectionF.The
reasontheyaregreateristhatsectionsDandHareneartheloadpointsandthelocal
deformationcausedbytheloadpointscreatesagreaterstrainonthetieplateslocated
atthesesections.Althoughthereisnotstraindataforallofthetieplatesuptoultimate
loading,evenifthestrainswerescaleduptotheultimatemomentof920kipft,the
maximumstrainwouldonlybearound300microstrain,thatisonly12%oftheyield
strainthatwasobtainedfromthematerialtests.Attheconstructionmomentof190
kipftthemaximumstraininanytieplateis65microstrainwhichislessthan3%of
yield.

36

Thefollowingfiguresshowthestrainofdifferentareasthroughoutthegirderduringthe
threeloadingsequenceswherethetieplateswereinitiallyinplace,thenremoved,and
finallyreplacedagain.Eachgraphcontainsdatafromasinglestraingage.Thefirst,
second,andthirdloadingsequencearerepresentedbytheblue,red,andgreen
respectively.Theblueandgreenweretheresultofthetieplatesbeinginplaceandthe
redisfromthetieplatesbeingremoved.Figure319showsstrainvs.momentfor
sectionC.ThestrainsintopandbottomflangesofsectionCwerenotaffectedbythe
presenceoftieplates.

350.0

350.0

300.0

300.0
250.0

CB

200.0

CB

150.0

CB

100.0
50.0

CT

150.0

CT

100.0
50.0

0.0
100.0

CT

200.0

Moment(kipft)

Moment(kipft)

250.0

0.0

0.0

100.0 200.0
Microstrain

300.0

400.0

300.0

200.0

100.0
Microstrain

0.0

Figure319StrainsatsectionCduringthreeloadingsequences

100.0

37

350.0

350.0

300.0

300.0

250.0

250.0
ET1
ET1

150.0

ET1

100.0
50.0

200.0

100.0
Microstrain

50.0
0.0

0.0

100.0

150.0

100.0

50.0
Microstrain

350.0

350.0

300.0

300.0

50.0

ET3

100.0
50.0

ET4

200.0

Moment(kipft)

Moment(kipft)

ET3

150.0

ET4

150.0

ET4

100.0
50.0

0.0
100.0
Microstrain

0.0

250.0
ET3

200.0

200.0

ET2

100.0

250.0

300.0

ET2

150.0

0.0
300.0

ET2

200.0

Moment(kipft)

Moment(kipft)

200.0

0.0
0.0

100.0

600.0

400.0

200.0
Microstrain

0.0

200.0

Figure320SectionEtopflangestrains
Figure320showsthemomentvs.straincurvesforthetopflangeofsectionE.The
strainsinthetopflangeofsectionEwerenotaffectedbythepresenceoftieplates.It
canalsobeseenthatnoneofthegraphsshowlinearbehavior.Thisistheresultofthe
bucklingofthetopflange.ET2,whichislocatedatcenterontopofthetopflange,
mostclearlyillustratestheaffectofthetopflangebuckling.Itisalsoimportanttonote
thatthestrainsreturnedtoinitiallevelseachtimethespecimenwasunloaded.That
meansthatthebucklingwasnotaffectingtheelasticbehaviorofthebeamattheseload
levels.Notefrompreviouslythattheconstructionmomentwasaround190kipft.

38

350.0

350.0

300.0

300.0
250.0
EB1

200.0

EB1

150.0

EB1

100.0
50.0

Moment(kipft)

Moment(kipft)

250.0

0.0

200.0
400.0
Microstrain

50.0

0.0

350.0

350.0

300.0

300.0

200.0
400.0
Microstrain

600.0

250.0

EB3

200.0

EB3

150.0

EB3

100.0
50.0

Moment(kipft)

Moment(kipft)

EB2

100.0

200.0

600.0

250.0

0.0
200.0

EB2

150.0

0.0

0.0
200.0

EB2

200.0

EB4

200.0

EB4

150.0

EB4

100.0
50.0
0.0

0.0

200.0
Microstrain

400.0

200.0

0.0

200.0
400.0
Microstrain

600.0

Figure321BottomflangestrainsatsectionE
Figure321showsthestrainslocatedinthebottomflangeatsectionE.EB1was
locatedonthebottomflangenearthecornerwheretheflangeandwebmeet.EB2,E
B3,andEB4werealllocatedclosertothefreeedgeofthebottomflanges.EB1was
notaffectedbythepresenceoftieplates,buttheotherthreegageswere.Withoutthe
tieplatesthegirdershapewasnotpreserved.Thisallowedtheflangestorotate
resultingintheflangesnotmaintainingtheirhorizontalorientation.Assoonasthe
flangesleavethehorizontalposition,thehighersidewillexperiencelowerstrains.

39

Figure322showsthestrainsatsectionFwhichisatmidspanofthegirder.Again,
therewasnonlinearbehaviorinthetopflangecausedbybucklingbutnoaffectonthe
magnitudeofthestrainsrelatedtothepresenceoftieplates.

350.0

350.0

300.0

300.0
250.0

250.0
FT1
FT1

150.0

FT1

100.0
50.0

400.0

200.0
Microstrain

0.0

50.0

600.0

200.0

350.0

300.0

300.0

FT3

100.0
50.0

Moment(kipft)

Moment(kipft)

FT3

150.0

200.0
Microstrain

200.0

FW1
FW1

150.0

FW1

100.0
50.0
0.0

0.0

200.0

20.0

0.0

350.0

300.0

300.0

250.0

20.0
40.0
Microstrain

60.0

80.0

250.0

200.0

FB1

150.0

FB1

100.0
50.0

Moment(kipft)

FB1

0.0

FB2

200.0

FB2

150.0

FB2

100.0
50.0
0.0

0.0

200.0 400.0
Microstrain

600.0

800.0

200.0

0.0

Figure322StrainsatsectionF

0.0

200.0

350.0

200.0

200.0
Microstrain

250.0
FT3

0.0

Moment(kipft)

400.0

350.0

200.0

400.0

FT2

100.0

0.0

250.0

600.0

FT2

150.0

0.0
600.0

FT2

200.0

Moment(kipft)

Moment(kipft)

200.0

200.0
400.0
Microstrain

600.0

40

Thewebgageandonegageonthebottomflange,FW1andFB1respectively,showthe
affectoftieplateswhiletheotherbottomflangegage,whichislocatedontheother
flangeandissymmetrictothefirst,showsnoaffectfromthetieplateremoval.

350

350

300

300

250

250
GT1
GT1

150

GT1

100
50

200.0
100.0
Microstrain

50
0

0.0

200.0

150.0

100.0
50.0
Microstrain

350

350

300

300

GT3

100
50

Moment(kipft)

Moment(kipft)

GT3

150

GW2

150

GW2

100
50
0

0.0

40.0

20.0

350.0

350

300.0

300

250.0

0.0
Microstrain

20.0

250
GB1

200.0

GB1

150.0

GB1

100.0
50.0

Moment(kipft)

Moment(kipft)

GW2

200

0.0

GB2

200

GB2

150

GB2

100
50
0

0.0

200.0
400.0
Microstrain

600.0

200.0

0.0

200.0
400.0
Microstrain

Figure323StrainatsectionG

0.0

250
GT3

200

200.0
100.0
Microstrain

GT2

100

250

300.0

GT2

150

0
300.0

GT2

200

Moment(kipft)

Moment(kipft)

200

600.0

41

Figure323showsthestrainsatsectionG.SectionGshowsveryclearlytheaffectoftop
flangebuckling.Thetwogageslocatednearthewebs,GT1andGT3,arelinear,while
GT2,whichislocatedinthemiddleofthetopflange,isgreatlyaffectedbythebuckling
ofthetopflangeandslightlyaffectedbytheabsenceoftieplates.
Straindistributioninthegirderprovidesagoodwaytomonitorbeambehaviorandcan
reveallocaldeformationsandfailuremechanisms.Straindistributionthroughthe
heightofthegirderispresentedwithmicrostrainonthehorizontalaxisandgirder
elevationontheverticalaxisasseeninFigure324.

Figure324Straindistributionillustration

42

Whilestrainsremainlinearlyelastic,straindistributioncanbecalculatedbyusingthe
EulerBernoulliclassicformulafordeterminingthebendingstressinabeamunder
simplebending,equation31.HookesLaw,Equation32,canthenbeusedtoconvert
thestressintostrain.

3-1
Where:
= stress
M = moment
c = distance from neutral axis
I = moment of inertia

3-2
Where:
= strain
= stress
E = Modulus of elasticity
ThefollowingfigureshowsthestraindistributionofallthestraingagesatsectionEat
theconstructionequivalentmomentof190kipft.SectionEhasthemost
comprehensivegagingconfiguration.Thereareseveralthingsofnoteinthisfigure.
First,notetheorangelinethatshowsthetheoreticalstraindistributionbasedonthe
momentatthatcrosssectionofthegirder.Allotherpointsinthefigurearetestdata
strainsfromthegagesatsectionE.ThegageconfigurationcanbeseeninFigure210.

43

30
25
20
15

GirderElevation(in)

E
ET
EW
EB
TheoreticalBasedonmoment
Series3

10
5
0
5

500.0

400.0

300.0

200.0

100.0

0.0

100.0

200.0

300.0

400.0

Microstrain

Figure325StraindistributionatsectionEatconstructionmoment
Therearedatapointsthatdonotmatchthetheoreticalstraindistribution.Thestrains
inthetopflangeswereaffectedbythelocaldeformationandbucklingcausedbya
combinationoftheconcentratedloadingandthewidetopflange.Thetwopoints
nearesttothetheoreticalpointarefromgagesET1andET3.Thetopflangeatthese
pointswasnearthewebs,whichbraced/stiffenedthetopflangetoresistbuckling.The
twofarthestpointsinthegraphareET2andET4,whichwerelocatedatthecenterof
thetopflangewithonelocatedonthetopoftheflangeandonelocatedonthebottom
oftheflange.Thelocationofthegageswithrespecttoeachotherandthelarge
differenceinstrainsateachgagegivesastrongindicationoflocaldeformationinthe
flange.ThepointinthegraphthatmatchesthetheoreticalstrainistheaverageofET2
andET4.Byaveragingthetwodatapoints,thesecondarystrainsfromthelocal
deformationcanceleachotheroutandtheresultingstrainisthecompressionresulting
fromflexureofthebeam.

44

Nextlookatthepointsonthestraindistributionthatarelocatedatthebottomofthe
girderinthebottomflanges.EB1isthepointthatmatchesthetheoretical.Thisgage
waslocatedontheflangeneartheweb.Theotherthreepointswerelocatednearthe
freeedgeoftheflanges.Itisunclearwhythestrainissomuchlower,butthesame
resultswereseenallalongthegirder.Inallcases,datafrombottomflangegagesthat
wereclosertothewebprovideddatathatmatchedwellwiththetheoreticalstraindata.
Ontheotherhand,datafromthegageslocatednearthefreeedgeoftheflanges
consistentlyhadstrainslowerthanthetheoreticalstrains.
Figure326showsthestraindistributionatsectionF.Onceagain,thereisatheoretical
straindistributiongraphedwiththestraindistributionthatresultedfromthetesting
data.Thetwostraindistributionsarefromthegagesoneachsideofthegirder.One
distributionconsistsofFT1,FW1,andFB1,whiletheotheriscomposedofFT3,FW2,
andFB2.

SectionF
30
25
20
15

GirderElevation(in)

F
F
FT2
TheoreticalBasedonmoment

10
5
0
5

500.0

400.0

300.0

200.0

100.0

0.0

100.0

200.0

300.0

400.0

Microstrain

Figure326StraindistributionofsectionFatconstructionmoment

45

Thestraindistributionsmatchcloselytothetheoreticalstraindistribution.Thedata
pointthatisfurthestfromthetheoreticalisFT2,whichislocatedatthecenterofthe
topflange.Thedifferenceisonceagaintheresultofthetopflangebuckling.Theother
topflangestrainsareslightlylowalsobuttoalesserextent.Thisisbecausethosegages
werelocatednearthewebs.Thebottomflangestrainsmatchanditisimportantto
noteonceagainthatthelocationofthesestraingages,FB1andFB2,wereonthe
bottomflangeneartheweb.
TheFollowingfiguresshowthestraindistributionatloadsthatareatconstruction
loads(Figure327),2timesconstructionloads(Figure328),Threetimesconstruction
loads(Figure329),andattheultimatecapacityofgirder(Figure330).Thegraphs
illustratetheprogressionofthestraindistributionandbucklingasloadingincreases.
Noticehowmuchthewebbucklingisaffectingthestrainsatthewebstraingagesbythe
timefailureoccurs.ThewebstraingagesatSectionEarelocatedonbothsidesofthe
web,separatedonlybythethicknessoftheplate.

GirderElevation(in)

25
20
15

E
ET
EW
EB
TheoreticalBasedonmoment

10
5
0
5

3000.0

2000.0

1000.0

0.0

1000.0

2000.0

Microstrain

Figure327Straindistributionatconstructionmoment

3000.0

46

GirderElevation(in)

25
20
15

E
ET
EW
EB
TheoreticalBasedonmoment

10
5
0
5

3000.0

2000.0

1000.0

0.0

1000.0

2000.0

3000.0

Microstrain

Figure328SectionEstraindistributionat2timesconstructionmoment

GirderElevation(in)

25
20
15

E
ET
EW
EB
TheoreticalBasedonmoment

10
5
0
5

3000.0

2000.0

1000.0

0.0

1000.0

2000.0

3000.0

Microstrain

Figure329SectionEstrainsat3timesconstructionmoment

GirderElevation(in)

25
20
15

E
ET
EW
EB
TheoreticalBasedonmoment

10
5
0
5

3000.0

2000.0

1000.0

0.0

1000.0

2000.0

Microstrain

Figure330SectionEstrainsatultimatemoment

3000.0

47

Astheloadincreasessodoesthedeviationfromthetheoretical.Thiscanalsobeseen
inthefollowinggraphsofsectionF.ThestrainsatSectionEandFdeviatefromthe
theoreticalinoppositedirections.ThisisbecauseatsectionEthetopflangeisbuckling
upwardswhilethetopflangeatsectionFisbucklingdownwards.Thetopflange
buckleddownattheloadpointsandbuckledupadjacenttothemcreatingacauseand
effectwaveextendingoutfromtheloadpoints.

48

GirderElevation(in)

25
20
15

F
F
FT2
TheoreticalBasedonmoment

10
5
0
5

3000.0

2000.0

1000.0

0.0

1000.0

2000.0

3000.0

Microstrain

Figure331SectionFstrainsatconstructionloading

GirderElevation(in)

25
20
15

F
F
FT2
TheoreticalBasedonmoment

10
5
0
5

3000.0

2000.0

1000.0

0.0

1000.0

2000.0

3000.0

Microstrain

Figure332SectionFstrainsat2timesconstructionloads

GirderElevation(in)

25
20
15

F
F
FT2
TheoreticalBasedonmoment

10
5
0
5

3000.0

2000.0

1000.0

0.0

1000.0

2000.0

Microstrain

Figure333SectionFstrainsatthreetimesconstructionloads

3000.0

49

SectionF
30

GirderElevation(in)

25
20
15

F
F
FT2
TheoreticalBasedonmoment

10
5
0
5

3000.0

2000.0

1000.0

0.0

1000.0

2000.0

3000.0

Microstrain

Figure334SectionFstrainsatultimateloading
Althoughthesomeofthestrainsaregettingclosetoyielding,bucklingisthedominant
causeinfailure.

50

3.3 TestB1Results
SpecimenBwastestedfollowingtheproceduresdescribedinthepreviouschapter.The
sameloadconfigurationwasusedforTestB1.Figure335showsthetestsetupforthe
secondtest.Unlikethefirsttest,notieplateswereremovedduringtesting.After
observinghowthefirstgirderfailurewasdrivenbystressconcentrationsattheload
points,stiffenerplateswereweldedinsidethesecondgirderattheloadpoints.

Figure335FoldedplategirdertestB1setup
Thissectionwillexaminetheresultsfromthesecondultimatetest,startingbylooking
attheoverallperformanceofthegirderandthenlookingattheperformanceofspecific
componentsofthegirderincludingtheperformanceofthetieplatesandtheaffectthey

51

haveongirderbehavior,andthestraindistributionsthroughoutthegirderduring
testing.Throughoutthissection,datafromthetwotestswillbecomparedtoshow
differencesfromthetwotests.
Figure336showsthemomentdeflectiongraphforBothTestA1andTestB1.The
graphcontainsdatafromverticalpots.Thegreenlinerepresentsthemaximumamount
ofmomentthatwouldbeexperiencedduringconstruction.Thecurvesinthegraphare
frompotsthatwerelocatedatthemidspanofthespecimens.

1400
TestA1
1200

TestB1

Moment(kipft)

1000
800
600
400
200
0
0.00

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

8.00

9.00

10.00

Deflection(in)

Figure336Momentdeflectioncurvesfromthetwotests
Bothspecimensdeflectlinearlyuppasttheconstructionmoment.Thesecondgirder
showedgreaterstiffnessthatthefirst.Thiswastheresultofacoupleofthings.The

52

stiffenerplatesattheloadpointspreventedthedeformationofthetopflange.In
addition,thepresenceoftieplatesmaintainsthegirdergeometryduringloadingwhich
increasesstiffness.Bothgirdersdeflectlinearlyuppasttheconstructionmomentand
uptoroughly2timestheconstructionmoment.Afterthis,thefirstspecimenbegins
nonlinearbehaviorwhilethesecondspecimenmaintainsnearlylinearbehavioruppast
1000kipft,whichismorethan5timestheconstructionmoment.Thesecondspecimen
reachesamuchhigherultimatemomentbutalsofailsmoreabruptly.
Thefollowingfigureswillshowthedeformationofthegirderthroughoutloading.
Figure337showsthetopflangeattwotimestheconstructionmoment.

Figure337Topflangeattwicetheconstructionmoment
Thetopflangeisbeginningtobuckleslightly.Theleaningshearstudsarethebest
indicatorofthetopflangedeformation.

53

Figure338TestB1at106kip
Figure339showsthetopflangeat120kips;thedeformationofthetopflangeis
becomingmoreapparent.Figure340throughFigure343showdifferentpartsofthe
beamat140kipsofload.Thisiswithinfivekipsoftheultimateload,whenthegirder
beginstofail.Figure341showsthatthedeformationofthegirderisactuallybending
thetieplate.Figure342isapicturetakenfromthewestendofthegirderlooking
downthetopflangetowardsthespreaderbeam.Nearthatspreaderbeam,thetop
flangeisbucklingdownwards.Figure343showsthedeformationofthetopflange
betweentheloadpoints.

54

Figure339TestB1topflangeat120kip

Figure340TestB1webat140kip

55

Figure341TestB1tieplateat140kip

Figure342TestB1topflangeat140kip

56

Figure343140kip
Shortlyafterthesepicturesweretakenthegirderreacheditsultimatecapacityand
begantofail.Figure344showsthetopflangewhenloadingisat137kipsasthegirder
continuestofail.Figure345showsthegirderoutsideoftheloadpointsalsoat
137kips.Thesetwofiguresshowadifferenceintheamountofbucklingtakingplacein
betweentheloadpointscomparedtooutsideoftheloadpoints.

57

Figure344Topflangeat137kipafterfailure

Figure345Girderoutsideloadpointsat137kiponwaybackdown
Afterthegirderwasunloaded,picturesweretakenofthefinaldeformedshapeofthe
specimen.Figure346showstheoverallgirderdeformationafterunloading.The

58

extremebucklingatmidspanresultedinwhatwasalmostahinge.Themidspanarea
containedmostofthepermanentdeformation;therestofthegirderreturnedtoits
originalstate.Figure347showsthegirderonbothsidesofthewestloadpoint.This
picturealsoshowsthatthemajorityofthefailureoccurredatmidspan.Figure348
showsthesectionofthegirderbetweenloadpointsandFigure349providesacloser
viewofthewebbuckling.

Figure346Girderdeflectionafterunloading

59

Figure347Permanentdeformationafterunloading

Figure348Girderdeformationatmidspanofgirderafterunloading

60

Figure349Girderpermanentdeformationafterunloading.Webbuckling
Insummarythefollowinggraph,Figure350,showswherethepicturesfallwithinthe
loadingofthegirder.

61

1400

TestB1

1200

340,41,42,43

Construction
Moment

344,45

Moment(kipft)

1000

339
338

800
600
400

337

200

346,47,48,49

335

0
0.00

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

8.00

9.00

10.00

Deflection(in)

Figure350Figurelabelsshowingtimeatwhichphotosweretaken
Theresultoftheaddedstiffenerplateswasashiftfromlocaldeformationattheload
pointstoamoregeneraldeformationinthetopflangealongthelengthofthebeam.
Thefailureinthefirsttestwascrushingofthegirder.Thefailureinthesecondtestwas
bucklingfromflexure.
Tieplateperformanceiscoveredinthefollowingparagraph.Unlikethefirstgirder
tested,wheresometieplateswereremovedduringtesting,alltieplatesremainedplace
throughouttestingofthesecondspecimen.Thestiffenerplatesinstalledattheload
pointsaidedthetieplatesinresistingflangeseparationandmaintainingthegirders
shape.Figure351showsthebottomflangeseparationdatathatwasmeasuredusing
pots.

62

1400
P1
1200

P2
P3

1000

Moment(kipft)

P5
P6

800

P7
600

400

200

0
0.02

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12

Displacement(in)

Figure351Flangeseparationmomentdisplacementgraph
Thestiffenerplatesthatwerepresentattheloadpointsprovidedbracingtothegirder
thatassistedthetieplatesatsectionDandsectionH.Attheconstructionmoment,the
largestflangemovementwasatmidspanandthatwas0.0012inches.Evenupto
ultimatecapacity,allflangeseparationwaslessthan.02inches.Figure352showsthe
momentvs.straincurveforthetieplatesatsectionFandDforthesecondtest.Atthe
constructionloadmomentof187kipft,thestrainsinbothtieplatesarelessthan25
microstrain.Thatisabout1%oftheyieldstrainofthesteel.Thestrainsinthetie
platesareinoppositedirections.TheflangesatsectionFaretryingtoseparatewhile
theflangesatsectionDaretryingtocometogether.Thestiffenerplatescreateapoint
inthegirderthatactslikeasupport.Ononesideofthesupport,theflangesare
separatingandasaresult,theflangesontheothersidearemovingintheopposite
direction.Thegraphalsoshowsthatwhenthegirderfails,thebucklingcangreatly

63

affecttheforceresistedbythetieplates.Figure341showedthetieplateatsectionF
bendingbecauseofthegirderdeformation.Thisflexurecreatessecondarystrainsinthe
tieplatewhichcandominatethestrainatthebottomofthetieplate.Ifasecondgage
waslocatedonthetopofthetieplate,thecombinedstrainfromflexureandtension
wouldcreatetotalstrainthatwouldbemuchlargerthanwhatisshowninthecurvefor
FP.

1400
1200

Moment(kipft)

1000
800
600
400
FPTest#2
200

DPTest#2

0
250

200

150

100

50

50

100

Microstrain

Figure352Momentvs.straindatafortieplatesatsectionFandD
Figure353Comparesdatafromthesametieplatesinthetwodifferenttests.Theonly
differencebetweenthetwotestsatthispointisthepresenceofstiffenerplatesatthe
loadpoints.Thedatashowsthatthestiffenerreducesthestressthatthetieplates
experienceduringloadingbybothholdingtheflangesinplaceandreducingthebuckling

64

ofthetopflange,whichistheprimarycauseofseparationoftheflanges.Thedataalso
showsthatthetieplatesarethereasonthatthestrainsareintheoppositedirectionin
testB1.
1400
1200

Moment(kipft)

1000
800
FPTest#2
600

FPTest#1
DPTest#2

400

DPTest#1

200
0
250

200

150

100

50

50

100

Microstrain

Figure353ComparisonoftieplatestraindatafromTestA1andTestB1

65

Thefollowingfiguresshowtheprogressionofthestraindistributionthroughoutloading
fortestB1.StraingagedatafromsectionE,F,andGisshown.Theoreticalstrain
distributionbasedontheappliedmomentisshowninorangetogivereference.The
firststraindistribution,Figure354,isatamomentofabout200kipft,whichiscloseto
thecalculatedconstructionmoment.Thestraindatamatcheswellwiththetheoretical
data.

30
25

GirderElevation (in)

20
girder

15

E
10

G
Theoretical

0
5

1000

800

600

400

200

200

400

600

800

1000

Microstrain

Figure354Straindistributionatconstructionmoment
ThestraindistributioninFigure355isatdoubletheconstructionmomentandhas
predictableresults.ThestraindistributionshowninFigure356isat3timesthe
constructionmoment.Noneofthestraindistributionsarefallingonthetheoreticalline
anymore.Thebottomflangestrainsarestillclose,butthewebandtopflangesarenot.
EandGmatcheachother,andFisbehavingoppositeofthosetwo.RememberthatFis
atmidspanandEandGaresymmetricandlocatedonbothsidesofF.

66

30
25

GirderElevation (in)

20
girder

15

E
10

G
Theoretical

0
5

1000

800

600

400

200

200

400

600

800

1000

Microstrain

Figure355Straindistributionattwotimestheconstructionmoment
30
25

GirderElevation (in)

20
girder

15

E
10

G
Theoretical

0
5

1500

1000

500

500

1000

1500

Microstrain

Figure356Straindistributionat3timestheconstructionmoment
Figure357andFigure358showthestraindistributionsatfourandsixtimesthe
constructionmomentrespectively.Thetopflangeandwebstrainscontinuetodeviate
fartherfromthetheoreticalasloadandtheresultingbucklingincrease.Somethingin
thebottomflangestraingagesatsectionFchangesdrasticallybetweenFigure358and
Figure359,whichshowsthestraindistributionatultimateload.Figure360showsthe

67

straindistributionatthehighestdeflectionbeforeunloading,andFigure361showsthe
straindistributionorpermanentdeformationafterunloading.

30
25

GirderElevation (in)

20
girder

15

E
10

G
Theoretical

0
5

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Microstrain

Figure357Straindistributionat4timestheconstructionmoment
30
25

GirderElevation (in)

20
girder

15

E
10

G
Theoretical

0
5

3000

2000

1000

1000

2000

Microstrain

Figure358Straindistributionat6timestheconstructionmoment

3000

68

25

GirderElevation (in)

20
girder

15

E
10

G
Theoretical

0
5

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

Microstrain

Figure359Straindistributionatultimatemoment
25

GirderElevation (in)

20
girder

15

E
10

G
Theoretical

0
5

6000

4000

2000

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

Microstrain

Figure360Straindistributionat614kipft.justbeforeunloading.Atultimate
deflection
25

GirderElevation (in)

20
girder

15

E
10

G
Theoretical

0
5

4000

2000

2000

4000

6000

Microstrain

Figure361Straindistributionafterunloading

8000

10000

69

Thecauseforthestraindiscrepanciesinthetopflangeandwebisduetothetopflange
startingtobuckle.Whenthetopflangebuckles,thewebsalsoareaffected.Ifthetop
flangegoesdownthewebsgooutandifthetopflangegoesupthewebsgoinas
illustratedinFigure362.

Figure362Girderdeformationillustration
Thisresultsinstrainsthatareeitherhighinthetopflangeandlowintheweborlowin
thetopflangeandhighintheweb.ThiscanbeseeninthestrainsofsectionEandG
andoppositeforsectionFstartinginFigure356.Thesedeformationsdidnotaffectthe
strainsinthebottomflanges.
Itcanbeseenthatthebottomflangestrainsmatchquitecloselytothetheoretical
strainsthroughoutloading.TheexceptionisthebottomflangedatafromsectionF.
Nearultimateloadingthestrainsinthebottomflangegrewveryquickly.Tobettersee
whatishappeningatthesegages,lookatthefollowingfiguresofloadandstrainvs.
timeandloadvs.strain.Figure363showsthestrain(primaryaxis)ontheleftand
loading(secondaryaxis)ontherightvs.timeonthehorizontalaxisforthestraingages
locatedatthebottomofsectionF.Afterthe4800secondmarkthestrainsinthetwo
flangesbegintogrowveryquicklyeachtimethatloadisapplied,whilethestrains
measuredattherosettes,whichwerelocatedonlyslightlyhigherinthegirderelevation,

70

continuetogrowatapacedisplayedearlierintesting.Figure364showsmomentvs.
strainforthesamegages.Itcanbeseennearthepeakloadingthatthebottomflange
straingages,FNB1andFNB2,measurelargeadditionalstrainforsmallamountsof
additionalload.Thisgraphalsoshowsthestraindatafromtherosettestraingages
whichdisplaylinearbehaviorinspiteoftheirlocationwithrespecttoFNB1andFNB2.
Figure365showsthemomentvs.strainrelationshipatthebottomflangesofsections
EandG.EventhoughthosesectionsexperiencedthesamemomentsassectionF,the
samebehaviorwasnotseenatsectionEandG.

12000

180000
160000

10000

MicrostrainandLoad(lbs)

140000
8000

120000
100000

6000
80000
60000

4000

FNB1
FNB2
FNR1b
FNR2b
TotalLoad

40000
2000
20000
0

0
4000

4200

4400

4600

4800

5000

5200

5400

5600

5800

Time(sec)

Figure 3-63 Load and strain data history

71

72

1400
1200

Moment(kipft)

1000
800

FNB2
FNB1

600

FNR2b
400

FNR1b

200
0
2000

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

Microstrain

Figure364MomentstrainrelationshipatbottomofsectionF

1400

Moment(kipft)

1200
ENB2

1000

ENB1

800

EN_B3

600

ENB4
GNB1

400

GNB2
200
0
0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Microstrain

Figure365MomentStrainrelationshipatbottomofsectionsEandG

73

Therecouldbeacoupleofexplanationsforthisbehavioratthebottomflangeofsection
F.Firstthestraingages,FNB1andFNB2,couldhavefailed.Theotherexplanation
wouldbethattheflangeexperiencedyieldingattheselocations.
Therearetwomainwaysthatstraingagescanfailduringloading.Theadhesivethat
bondsthegagetothesteelcanfailresultinginadropinthestraininthegagewhichis
notthecaseinthissituation.Theotherwayastraingagecanfailisthatthefoilmatrix
canfailwhichwouldcauseanincreaseintheresistanceofthegageandasaresultan
increaseinthestrainreading.Thisisapossibleexplanationfortheunusuallylarge
strains.Thelargedifferenceinthestrainsinthebottomflangecomparedtothebottom
bendofthegirderprovidessomeargumentforthestraingagefailure.Alsothestrains
atsectionsEandGwereatsimilarlevelsbutdidnotshowthesamebehavior.
Thereareseveralthingsthatindicatethatyieldingcouldbehappening.First,thestrain
atwhichthisoccurred,wasveryclosetothestainwhereyieldingbeganduringthe
materialtestingfromgirdersamples.Second,thepresenceofatieplate,locatedat
sectionFandnotatsectionsEandG,couldbethecauseofthedifference.Third,the
girderfailure,extremebucklinganddeformation,occurredatsectionF.Finally,thefact
thatthetwostraingagesinquestion,whichwerelocatedsymmetricallyonopposite
flanges,showedverysimilarbehavioratthesameloadlevels,seemstopointtoward
yieldingasbeingthecauseofthehighstrainsatsectionF.Itseemsunlikelythatthe
twogageswouldfailatthesamepointwhileallofthegageslocatedatsectionEandG
didnotfailatsimilarstrainlevels.

74

Chapter

Conclusions

ThefollowingsectionssummarizetheconstructabilitytestingoffoldedplategirdersA1
andB1,andpresenttheconclusionsoftheresearch.

4.1 Summary
Constructabilitytestingoftwofoldedplategirderspecimenswasperformed.Both
girdersweretestedoverasimplespanwithtwosymmetricloadpoints.Thegirders
havetieplatesbetweenthebottomflangestocontrolflangeseparation.Duringthe
firsttest,threetieplateswereremovedforpartoftestingsothattheeffectoftheir
presencecouldbeobserved.Duringthesecondtest,thetieplatesremainedinplace
throughoutloading.Alsoduringthesecondteststiffenerplateswereaddedattheload
pointstoeliminatethelocaldeformationthatresultedfromtheconcentratedloads.

75

Duringconstructionthemajorityoftheloadonthegirderwouldresultfromthepouring
oftheconcretedeckwhichisadistributedload.Also,theloadduringconstructionis
notrestrictedtothetopflange.Thehangersthatholdtheformworkinplaceduring
constructiondistributesomeoftheconstructionloadingtothesidesofthegirdernear
thebottomoftheweb.Therefore,theuseofpointloadingtoreachultimatecapacity
resultsinconservativeresults.
Thegoaloftestingwastoevaluateboththeoverallgirderperformancewhilealso
testingthegirdercomponentsperformance.Thegirderwastestednotonlytoseehow
itperformsatconstructionloading,butalsotoseewhatloadlevelscausefailureand
whatthemodeormodesoffailureare.

4.2 Conclusions
Resultsofthetwotestsreportedinthisthesisarepartofongoingresearchinthefolded
plategirdersystembeingdevelopedattheUniversityofNebraska.Thereforethe
conclusionstatementspresentedinthisthesisarelimitedtotheconstructabilitytesting
mentionedherein.
Bothspecimensthatweretesteddisplayedstabilityandductilitythoughallstagesof
testing.Therewerenoundesirable,visibleormeasurable,deformationsinthegirderat
momentsequivalenttothoseexperiencedduringconstruction.
Tieplatesperformakeyfunctionbymaintainingthegirdershapeduringconstruction,
whenthegirderismostvulnerabletodeformation.Testingconfirmedthatthetie

76

platesarebothnecessaryandeffectiveforpreventingflangeseparationatconstruction
loadlevelsandbothflangeseparationandrotationathigherloadlevels,whichcause
deformationandbucklinginthegirder.Moreevaluationofthetieplateswillbe
necessarytodeterminetheoptimumtieplateconfiguration.
Thetopflangeofthefoldedplategirderexperiencesthehigheststressduring
construction.Afterconstructionofthedeckiscompleteandtheconcreteishardened,
theneutralaxisisshiftedupneartheinterfacebetweenthetopflangeanddeck.Atthis
point,thetopflangewillexperiencelittlestressbecauseitislocatedclosetotheneutral
axisofthecompositebeam.Thetopflangewastheweakestcomponentofthebeam
duringconstructionduetoitsroleasacompressionelementthathasaslenderandun
bracedform.Thecompressioninthetopflangecausedlocalbucklinginthetopflange
evenatelasticloadlevels.Thiswasthecauseforlossofstiffnessandfailureinboth
specimens.Theadditionoflocaldeformationthatresultedfromstressconcentrations
tothebucklingthatoccursfromcompressionofthetopflangereducesboththe
stiffnessandtheultimatecapacityofthegirder.Thisisshowninthedifferencein
performancebetweenTestA1andTestB1.
Incorporationofaridgeatthecenterofthetopflangeofspecimens,resultsofwhich
arenotreportedinthisthesis,provedtoresolvethisveryearlybucklingissue.

77

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FHWANBIdata.(n.d.).Retrievedfromhttp://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/nbi/.
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