LAUSR

Abstract This paper investigates the shear behaviour of Hybrid stainless steels (HSS) plate girders using the commercial FE software, Abaqus. Two types of stainless steel grades were adopted viz., Lean duplex stainless steel (LDSS) for web and Duplex stainless steel (DSS) for flanges. The FE results are presented in the form of shear capacity (Vu) and failure modes. Based on the study, it has been observed that web thickness (tw) has higher positive influence on the shear capacity as compared to flange thickness (tf). On the other hand, relative improvement in ductility could be seen when flange thickness is increased, in contrast to increase in web thickness (tw). In general, three failure modes were observed in HSS plate girders viz., shear dominant failure mode, bending dominant failure mode and combined shear and bending dominant failure mode. Based on the present results, modified Eurocode and Direct strength method (DSM) design formulations have been proposed.