Shear strength of trapezoidal corrugated steel webs

Corrugated webs are used to increase the shear stability of the steel webs of beams and girders and to eliminate the need for transverse stiffeners. This paper focuses on the shear strength of corrugated steel webs with trapezoidal corrugations. Previously developed formulas for predicting the shear strength of steel trapezoidal corrugated webs, along with the corresponding theory, are summarized. A new formula is developed, which considers interaction among the various shear failure modes. More than 100 test results from previous research are organized and evaluated according to relevant test specimen parameters. The conditions of many of these tests are found to be inconsistent with the theoretical conditions assumed in deriving the shear strength formulas. The various formulas for predicting shear strength are then compared with selected test results. The new formula is shown to be more accurate than previous formulas for estimating the shear strength of corrugated steel webs. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.