EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION ON THE WELD STRENGTH OF THE STEEL BEAM WITH AND WITHOUT STIFFENER

In nature, the bucking behavior of the web of I section reduces the member's strength considerably. Hence, in common practice, people use the intermediate and end stiffeners to improve the strength of the beam. The stiffeners are connected to the web using the welded connections. In this paper, the experimental study on steel beams with and without stiffeners is reported. The weld length of the stiffeners has been varied and the study has been carried out. Three specimens were tested. One without stiffeners, one with full weld, and one with half weld. The strength will be enhanced due to the presence of stiffeners. The increase is about 53%. It is interesting to note that the strength of the half weld and full-weld specimens is not very different. All the other parameters such as ductility, stiffness, and energy dissipation are reported in the paper.