The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the degree of influence of holes in the web of steel beams with long spanson weakening of their bearing capacity. Making holes in the web of the beam generally reduces the bearing capacity of the beam. However, it might be necessary seen from both an architectural perspective as well as from a building services perspective by creating an opportunity for building installations. The objective of this thesis is to examine how much an I-beam can be weakened without sacrificing safety and functionality. The investigation has been done by using Finite Element Method through commercial software. The regulation for structural design of building structures in Sweden used to be specified in the document known as BKR. But this was replaced by the European norm Eurocode back in May 2011. Starting from the transition between the norms, it is essential to investigate and define whether they differ and if so, what the consequences are of these possible differences. A secondary objective is therefore to define possible differences in structural design calculations between Eurocode 3 and BSK 07, which are the design rules for dimensioning of steel structures with Eurocode respectively BKR. The thesis work has been carried out in collaboration with Bjerking AB. The thesis has been divided into three sections: load calculations, structural design of single elements and finally the impact of the weakening by holes on bearing capacity. The following three structural elements have been studied: Welded I-beam Welded I-beam with weakenings Truss beam The results from the structural design show that Eurocode demands more calculations than the BKR. However, Eurocode has in almost all cases indicated lower degree of utilization. This will most likely lead to lower material costs since less dimensions of structural elements is achieved. Eurocode has also showed lower limit for the effect of shear buckling during the structural design for shear resistance. The results from the analysis of the impact of web weakening on bearing capacity show that circular holes lead to higher bearing capacity than quadratic holes. Furthermore, the results show that the shear resistance of the beam, in principle, proportionally decreases with the area loss of the beam web. Regarding normal stresses, the analysis show that the most critical points to be considered in circular holes are at the very top and the very bottom of the edges of the hole where the largest compression stresses and tension stresses occur. Weakening of an I-beam’s web will also increase the vertical deformation of the beam in serviceability limit state but this increase of deformation is very small. The study has for example showed that a welded I-beam with span of 30 meters, height of 1300 mm, web thickness of 15 mm, flange width of 400 mm and flange thickness of 20 mm can accommodate 23 centered circular holes with diameter of 800 mm and center distance of 1200 mm without sacrificing safety and functionality. These holes result in a weight reduction of the beam from 8290 kg to 6930 kg.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-184581 |
Date | January 2012 |
Creators | Merza, Nawar |
Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för geovetenskaper |
Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
Language | Swedish |
Detected Language | English |
Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
Format | application/pdf |
Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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