1.1.

1 Web Panel in Shear

The “column web panel in shear” is a component that is described, including its
resistance calculation, in § 6.2.6.1 of EN1993-1-8 [8.2]. The way to consider this
component in the calculation of the bending resistance of a beam-to-column joint with
bolted end-plate connection is explained in § 6.2.7.2 (7).The design method is
however limited to column web slenderness d/tw ≤ 69 ε.

Web slenderness in ASTRON connections is generally above this limitation of

EN1993-1-8. A particular design method is defined here after. The web panel shear
resistance is calculated on the basis of a method developed by F. Cerfontaine [8.4,
8.5, and 8.6] at the University of Liège. The approach is fully compatible with the
rules of EN1993-1-8 for thick panels, and with the design concept of EN1993-1-8 in
general.

Two points are here of importance:

1. The definition of the lever arm z that must be considered. For this particular point,
the prescriptions of EN1993-1-8, figure 6.15, cases c, d, and e, are taken into account.
2. The description of the calculation of the resistance. This can be found in the above
mentioned works of F. Cerfontaine, but it is summarized here after with adapted
notations.

The shear resistance VRd of the web panel is made of 3 terms:

• VPB: this term corresponds to the shear buckling resistance of the web panel; for
this resistance it is possible to take into account the beneficial effect of partial
clamping of the web panel into the surrounding flanges or stiffeners
• VTB: it corresponds to the resistance of a diagonal “tension band” that appears,
after web plate buckling, between two opposite corners of the panel
• VFM: it corresponds to the resistance of the frame made of the flanges and
stiffeners that surround the web panel; this frame indeed deforms under
increasing loading and at the ultimate state it collapses in a mechanism that
plastically bends the flanges and the stiffeners.

The design resistance of the panel in shear is expressed as VRd = VPB + VTB + VFM

The above described concept is schematically represented in Figure 1.

 Figure 1 – Components of the “Web-Panel in Shear” Resistance

The sum VPB + VTB should however be limited to the plastic shear resistance, Vpl,Rd of
the web panel, as defined in § 6.2.6.1 of EN1993-1-8, leading to the condition:
f y, wc 1
VPB + VTB ≤ Vpl, Rd = 0.9 ⋅ A v ⋅ ⋅
3 γ M0
fy,wc is the characteristic yield strength of the web plate and Av is the shear area to be
considered, as per EN1993-1-1, § 6.2.6. In case of welded profiles it is defined as
equal to the web panel area:

Av = η · h w · t w

where hw is the column web depth as shown in Figure 2, and tw its thickness. The
parameter η is defined in EN1993-1-5; it is here safely assumed to be equal to η=1,0
and will therefore be omitted in the next pages. For other profiles than welded H or I
ones, the definition of Av may be found in § 6.2.6 of EN1993-1-1.

Definition of the Connection and Dimensions

For general understanding it is referred here to a beam-to-column connection with a
vertical connection plate as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 – Web Panel Dimensions and Shear Force Lever Arm

The dimensions of the web-panel are hw and b, though the lever arm, in the case that
is represented in Figure 2, is z. The lever arm can of course be different for the 2
possible directions of the bending moment Mb,Ed; again reference should be done to
Figure 6.15 in EN1993-1-8.

In the d/tw slenderness calculation, as defined in EN1993-1-8, § 6.2.6.1, dimension d

is the one that is parallel to the considered shear force, thus is hw.

ASTRON “knee” connections, with a horizontal or vertical connection plate (see

Erreur ! Source du renvoi introuvable.) can be handled in a similar way, after
adaptation of the formulas. For the modelling of the joint as well as the definition of
the shear loading, the principles of EN1993-1-8, § 5.3 are applied.

Buckling resistance of the web-panel (VPB)

The buckling resistance of the web panel is based on the shear critical stress τcr:
τ cr = k τ ⋅ σ E
where σE is the Euler critical stress of the plate:
2
π2E  t w 
σE =  
12(1 − ν 2 )  h w 

and kτ is the buckling coefficient related to the plate. The restraining support that is
brought by the surrounding plates, due to their torsional rigidity, can be taken into
account. The kτ
coefficient is expressed in such a way that it takes this effect into account.

kτ is an interpolation between the value kτ4 referring to the case where the panel is
assumed to be simply supported along the edges and kτ1 referring to the case where
the panel is assumed to be fully clamped along the edges.

k τ4 = 5.34 + 4.00 (h w /b) 2 when b/h w ≥ 1

or 4.00 + 5.34 (h w /b) 2 when b/h w < 1
and:

k τ1 = 8.98 + 5.60 (h w /b) 2 when b/h w ≥ 1

or 5.60 + 8.98 (h w /b) 2 when b/h w < 1

k τ = r ⋅ k τ1 + (1 − r) ⋅ k τ4
with
r = k/600
and
b i t 3i ⋅ (1 − ν)
k = min(200 ),600)
Li ⋅ t 3w
In the last formula, bi and ti are the dimensions of the plates located around the web
plate, and Li are their length (hw or b). The minimum given by the 4 plates is
arbitrarily, thus safely, considered, or the value 600 if smaller. The value r = 1
corresponds to a fully clamped web-plate, though r = 0 corresponds to a simply
supported plate.

The slenderness of the web-panel is then determined:

f y , wc
λw =
τ cr 3

And the buckling shear stress τ PB is, according to EN1993-1-5, using the safe value η
= 1 according to EN1993-1-1, § 6.2.6:
f y , wc
τ PB = if λ w ≤ 0.83
3
0.83 f y , wc
τ PB = ⋅ if 0.83 < λ w ≤ 1.08
λw 3
1.37 f y , wc
τ PB = if 1.08 < λ w
0.7 + λ w 3

Finally, the shear buckling resistance of the web panel is:

VPB = τ PB ⋅ h w ⋅ t w /γ M1

Resistance of the Diagonal “Tension Band” (VTB)

The second component of the shear resistance, VTB, requires the calculation of:
- the width g of the tension band (see the figure 11),
- the axial stresses σTB acting in it.

The axial stress σTB is obtained through:

σ TB = −1.5 ⋅ τ PB ⋅ sin2ϕ + f y,2 wc − 3τ PB + (1.5 ⋅ τ PB ⋅ sin2ϕ )2

2

in which τ PB is the buckling shear stress as defined above, and φ is the angle
between the considered shear force and the diagonal tension band OL of the web
panel, here:

ϕ = arctg(z/h w )
 Figure 3 - Tension Band

The width g of the tension band is obtained through:

g = (ON + LQ) ⋅ cosϕ

with:

2 M pl, N + M pl,O
ON = but limited to z
cosϕ 2 ⋅ σ TB ⋅ t w

2 M pl,L + M pl,Q
LQ = but limited to z
cosϕ 2 ⋅ σ TB ⋅ t w

in which the Mpl,i values (i = N, O, …) are the bending plastic resistances of the plates
at the points N, O, L, and Q:

bi ⋅ t i
2
M pl,i = ⋅ f y,i
4
bi and ti being the dimensions (width, thickness) of the concerned plate and fy,i its
characteristic yield strength. For the corners, L and O, one should consider the
thinnest plate.

Finally the component VTB writes:

g
VTB = σ TB ⋅ ⋅ t w ⋅ d/γ M0
z
With d being the lever arm of the tension band:
d = (z − LQ) ⋅ cosϕ + g/2
Frame resistance of the surrounding plates (VFM)

This component simply writes:

1 1 1
VFM = { ⋅ (M pl,O + M pl, N ) + ⋅ (M pl, L + M pl,Q )} ⋅
ON LQ γ M1

Figure 4 - Frame "Mechanism"

in which the bending resistances Mpl,i of the plates have been defined above.

Shear Resistance of the Web Panel

The shear resistance of the web panel is finally:
f y,wc1
VRd = min(0,9 ⋅ h w ⋅ t w ⋅ ⋅; Vy ) + VFM
3 γ M0
Vy = VPB + VTB