Impact Behavior of Steel Alveolar Beams with Three Shapes of Web Openings

Steel alveolar beams offer significant advantages, including increased section height without additional weight, enhanced stiffness-to-weight ratio, and improved accessibility for services through web openings. This study investigates the impact behavior of steel beams with three types of web openings: circular (cellular beams), hexagonal (castellated beams), and sinusoidal (Angelina beams). Finite-element simulations using ABAQUS were performed, and the Johnson–Cook damage model was applied to assess their impact resistance and failure mechanisms. The results showed that cellular beams showed a 29.44% increase in deflection at maximum velocity and 121.18% at maximum load. Castellated beams displayed a 36.1% increase in deflection at maximum velocity and 109.45% at maximum load, while Angelina beams exhibited the highest increase, with 39.82% at maximum velocity and 114.23% at maximum load. The main failure modes observed were local buckling, web postbuckling, excessive bending, and the Vierendeel mechanism. To enhance the structural performance of alveolar beams under impact loading and to prevent these failure modes, it is recommended to use stiffeners at locations of concentrated stress, ensure adequate web post width, and use profiles with cross sections that comply with the flange width-to-thickness ratio (b/tf) specified in IS800:2007 to avoid local buckling These findings provide valuable insights into the impact performance of alveolar beams, supporting the design of lightweight, impact-resistant structural elements.