摘要: |
Abstract Starting from a recently developed variational principle for the lateral torsional buckling analysis of steel I-beams strengthened with cover plates, this study formulated an energy-based solution that quantifies the lateral torsional buckling resistance of simply supported strengthened I-beams. The solution captures the detrimental effect of loads that may act on the beam prior to strengthening through an interaction relation combining the prestrengthening and poststrengthening peak moments. Additionally, it captures the effects of moment gradient and load height for pre and poststrengthening loads, as well as prebuckling deformation effects through a series of design-oriented coefficients. A systematic comparison of the solution to finite-element analysis (FEA) predictions demonstrated its accuracy for a wide range of cross sections, strengthening plate geometries, spans, pre and poststrengthening load distributions, and load heights. The use of the proposed solution in typical strengthening design scenarios was illustrated through two examples. The simplicity of the solution compared with the FEA, the universality implied by its dimensionless format, and its predictive accuracy make it attractive in a design environment. |