Experimental Study and Theoretical Analysis on Seismic Performance of Castellated Beam With Hexagonal Holes

Abstract

Under a reciprocating load, through an experimental study and finite element analysis, the effect of different arrangements of stiffening ribs on the failure mode, local stability, and hysteretic performance of castellated beams with hexagonal holes is investigated. The test specimens comprise four steel castellated beams, two of which are reinforced with transverse stiffening ribs having the same opening rate but different height-to-thickness ratios of the webs; the two other steel castellated beams do not have any stiffening ribs. The results show that the steel castellated beams with a high height-to-thickness ratio are prone to local buckling failure of the webs. When, under a low-cycle reciprocating load, the transverse stiffening ribs are arranged, and the steel castellated girder is constrained by the plane, the failure mainly occurs at the hole angle position, and the hysteretic performance of the steel castellated girder is obviously improved compared with the non-stiffened steel castellated beam. Using finite element analysis, w e realize that different arrangements of transverse stiffening ribs change the failure mode of the steel castellated beam and that the reasonable arrangement of the stiffening ribs has a significant influence on the hysteretic performance of the castellate d beam.