Improving Load Capacity of Steel Beams with Corrugated Webs Using Stiffening Plates

In the last decades, Steel Beams with Corrugated Webs (SBCWs), especially those with trapezoidal profiles, are extensively employed in structural applications owing to their superior strength-to-weight ratio and improved structural stability under various loading conditions. While the behavior of SBCWs has been widely investigated, comparatively fewer studies have explored approaches aimed at improving their structural performance through strengthening techniques. This study presents numerical investigation into the capacity enhancement of SBCWs through the application of horizontal stiffeners and reinforcing plates. The numerical results were validated against existing experimental and computational data from previous research. The finite element method was employed to analyze simply supported SBCWs, strengthened using two different stiffening configurations, under uniformly distributed vertical loads. The numerical study focused on comparing the influence of two different stiffening techniques on load-carrying capacity of SBCWs . Parametric study was performed to evaluate the effects of stiffening type, position, configuration (one-side or two-sides) and geometric parameters (width and thickness ) on ultimate load capacity. In addition, the optimal stiffener profiles were suggested to enhance overall structural performance. Results indicate that all strengthening techniques improved performance compared to the unstiffened reference model. Among all configurations, the central two-sided reinforcing plate proved to be the most effective in enhancing the load capacity of SBCWs.