Local flange buckling of a plate girder in bending

FACT FILE

  • ALUMINIUM ALLOY YIELD STRENGTH
    220 N/mm2
  • FLANGE THICKNESS
    1.2 mm
  • WEB THICKNESS
    1.2 mm
  • Failure Mechanism
    Buckling of top flange

This video shows an aluminium alloy plate girder being load tested in bending. The test specimen and load test have been designed to demonstrate local flange buckling.

Learning Outcomes:

Viewers will gain an improved understanding of:

  • Local buckling effects in beams.
  • The importance of providing adequate lateral and torsional restraint to beams

The girder is laterally and torsionally restrained in four locations. It is then subjected to four point bending. The test specimen exhibits local buckling in the top (compression) flange and, as the test proceeds, shear buckling in the web of the section. The load test also demonstrates the stable post-buckling response of the plate girder.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at info@thinkup.org