Behaviour of Structural Subassemblies of Steel Beams with Corrugated Webs Using Reverse Channel Connections

This study uses the finite element (FE) software ABAQUS V 6.14to develop detailed, comprehensive numerical models of the behaviour of restrained structural subassemblies of corrugated web steel beams (SBCW) connected to concrete-filled tubular columns (CFTC) via reverse channel connection. Four different types of web corrugation profiles—trapezoidal (Trap), rectangular (Rec), sinusoidal (Sin), and triangular (Tria)—are numerically modelled and analyzed to evaluate the significance of their influence on structural behaviour. In addition, the effects of flange stiffeners at the point load and web slenderness are examined. Moreover, this study investigates the effects of using four different joint types of reverse channel connection: extended endplate, flush endplate, flexible endplate, and hybrid extended/flexible endplate on the behaviour of SBCW. It is concluded that, by means of corrugated webs for enhancing beam deformation capacity and strength, it is feasible for the beams to achieve a higher load-carrying capacity. The ultimate load of the beams with Trap and Rec corrugated web was higher than that for the flat web beam by about 22% and 18%, respectively, and with the same increase of 10.5% for Tria and Sin corrugation profiles. However, providing the corrugated web beams with flange stiffeners at the point load had a limited effect (+0.7% to +5.1% depending on profile). Moreover, increasing the web thickness to reduce the slenderness ratio (hw/tw) from 250 to 200 can be an effective solution to prolong their load-carrying capacity. In addition, using an extended or flush endplate gave the best behaviour of SBCW connected to concrete-filled tubular columns (CFTC) with an increase of (5.3–31.7%) and (25–30.9%) for flush endplate and extended endplate, respectively, compared to flexible endplate, depending on the web corrugation profile.