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Design of Steel and Composite Beams with Web

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Article in Journal of Constructional Steel Research April 1998

DOI: 10.1016/S0143-974X(98)00136-9

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PAPER NUMBER: 108

Design of Steel and Composite Beams

with Web Openings

G. S. Verssimo1, R. H. Fakury2
1
Department of Civil Engineering, Federal University of Viosa
Viosa, Minas Gerais, BRAZIL
2
Department of Structural Engineering, Federal University of Minas Gerais
Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, BRAZIL

ABSTRACT
This paper presents a design procedure for building steel and composite beams, constituted by rolled or
welded I beams with one or more web openings. The openings can be circular or rectangular, concentric or
eccentric. The procedure allows to identify the situations in which the openings need to be reinforced and to
design the reinforcement. The procedure still allows to design composite beams with a solid slab or a ribbed
slab, regarding the contribution of the concrete to the maximum shear capacity, full shear connection and
fraction shear connection. Finally a practical table for european rolled profiles IPE and UB series is
presented.

KEYWORDS
Steel structures, Beams, Composite Beams, Web openings, Web reinforcements

INTRODUCTION
In steel structured buildings, openings in the web of the floor beams to pass service ducts are often used.
These openings reduce the bending strength of the beams. The procedure presented in this paper is based in
the limit state method related to the bending moment and shearing force actions, and applies to building steel
beams, including composite beams, subject to bending, with single or multiple web openings. The openings
can be reinforced whenever necessary. The yield strength of steel is limited to 450 MPa. The sections should
be I shaped, double symmetric, not hybrid, and should have such dimensions as not to permit local buckling
of neither of their elements. The beams must have lateral bracing to not permit lateral buckling.

DESIGN PROCEDURE
The basic design procedure consists of: (1) obtaining the maximum nominal bending strength admitting pure
bending (Mm); (2) obtaining the maximum nominal shear strength admitting pure shear (Vm); (3) applying
these values to an expression regarding the interaction between bending and shear. Some additional
guidelines are applied to ensure a behavior of the beams in coherence with the design expressions.

1
Maximum Moment Strength

The maximum nominal bending moment strength equals the plastic bending capacity of the unperforated
section (Mpl), considering the web area reduction due to the presence of the opening.

Steel beams

For steel beams, the eccentricity e, measured from the center line of the steel section (Fig. 1), is always
positive, whether the opening is above or below the centerline.
bf
tf dr
st
Ar

ho e tw
h d
Ar
ao sb l1 dr
tf

a) unreinforced opening b) reinforced opening

Figure 1: Steel beam configurations.

The bending moment capacity is given by (Darwin, 1990):

for members with reinforced openings and small eccentricity ( e < Ar / tw )

ho 2
M m M pl f y t w ho e e 2 Ar ho M pl (1)
4

for members with reinforced openings and large eccentricity ( e Ar / tw )

h Ar
M m M pl f y ho t w 2 Ar o
4
+ e M pl
2t w
(2)

Composite beams
For composite beams, with effective width of concrete slab equal to be , the eccentricity e is positive if the
opening is above the beam center line, and negative if below.
0.66 fck 0.66 fck 0.66 fck

a a a
ts _
fy y fy
tf _
y

d e
ho Mm Mm Mm

tf
fy fy fy

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 2: Stress distribution in composite beams with web opening under pure bending:
(a) PNA in the slab; (b) PNA in top flange; (c) PNA in the web.

2
The compression force in the concrete slab (C) is limited to the lowest of the three values below:

0.66 f ck be t e (3a)

C Qn n. q n (3b)
T f A (3c)
y sn

The coefficient 0.66 that multiplies fck corresponds to the product of 0.85 (Rsch effect) and the ratio
between the resistance factors of the concrete (1/1.40 0.70) and steel for this case (0.90), according the
recommendation of the NBR 8800 [ABNT (1986)].

Depending on the beam configuration, the plastic neutral axis (PNA) can be placed in three different
positions. If C T , the PNA is in the concrete slab and the maximum bending moment strength, under pure
bending, is given by
d As e a
Mm T + + ts (4)
2 Asn 2
C
where a is the depth of the concrete compression block and T is given by the Eqn. 3c.
0.66 f ck be

The Eqn. 4 is valid for composite beams with solid slab or ribbed slab with a ts'. If a > ts' the term (ts -
a/2) in the Eqn. 4 must be replaced with the appropriate expression for the distance between the top of the
steel flange and the centroid of the concrete force.

If C < T (Eqn. 3), then a portion of the steel section is in compression and, in this case, the PNA may be in
either the flange or the web of the top tee. If ( C + fy Af ) > fy (Asn - Af ), the PNA will be in the top flange and
in this case Mm is given by:
d As e b f y 2 a
Mm
T + C t s (5)
2 Asn 2

where y , the distance between the PNA and the top of the flange, is

Asn f y C
y (6)
2 bf f y

If ( C + fy Af ) < fy (Asn - Af ), the PNA is in the web (Figure 2c) and Mm is given by

Mm T
d
+

As e b f t w t f 2 t w y 2
C t a (7)
2 Asn s 2

where y , the distance between the PNA and the top of the flange, has the value

Asn 2 A f C
y tf (8)
2 tw 2 f y tw

Maximum Shear Strength

The procedures presented here are an adaptation to techniques developed by Darwin and Donahey
(1988,1986), and Lucas and Darwin (1990) that provide rather good results for a wide range of beams usage,

3
as it has been observed. The maximum nominal shear capacity at a web opening (Vm), under pure shear, is
the sum of the capacities of the bottom and top tees.

Vm = Vmt + Vmb (9)

The maximum nominal shear capacity of the top tee is given by:

6
Vmt V pt V pt v V pt (10)
3

where: V pt 0.6 f y t w st (11)

ao
(12)
st
2 Pr d r Ch d h Cl d l
(13)
V pt st

The Eqn. 10 provides the maximum nominal shear capacity of the top tee, even composite beams, whenever

the term v 6 / 3 10
. . If v > 1 the Eqn. 20 must be used to evaluate the shear capacity of
the top tee. For reinforced openings and when v 1, st should be replaced by st in the evaluation of in
the Eqn. 12. st is given by:
Ar
st st (14)
2 bf

The expression for the bottom tee shear capacity (Vmb) may be obtained by doing the appropriate
substitutions in the Eqns. (10) to (14).

For the top tee in composite beams, some additional expressions are necessary to calculate the forces in the
concrete, Ch and Cl , the distances dh and dl , and to verify the situations where the web of the tee is fully
yielded. The force in the concrete in the high moment end of opening, Ch , is limited to the concrete
resistance, the stud capacity, or the tensile capacity of the top tee steel section:

0.66 f ck be t e (15a)

C Qn (15b)
f A (15c)
y st

The force in the concrete in the low moment end of opening, Cl, depends on Ch and the shear connector
capacity over the opening, and is given by:

Cl = Ch no qn 0 (16)

The distances between the top of the steel flange and the centroid of the forces that act on the concrete, at the
high and low moment ends of the opening, respectively, dh and dl, are calculated as:

0.5 Ch Ch
d h t e hF t e hF (17)
0.66 f ck be 1.32 f ck be
0.5 Cl Cl
dl for solid slabs (18a)
0.66 f ck be 1.32 f ck be
0.5 Cl Cl
d l hF hF for ribbed slabs (18b)
0.66 f ck be 1.32 f ck be

4
The value of Ch , obtained from Eqn. 15, must be limited according to the following:

Ch f y t f (b f t w ) Ar (19)

If the Eqn. 19 governs Ch , then Cl , dh , dl and must be recalculated. If the term 6 / 3

exceeds 1,0 in the Eqn. 10, the top tee shear capacity is given by:

2 Pr d r Ch d h Cl d l
Vmt V pt (20a)
ao

Vmt V pt V pt (20b)

Finally, Vmt must not be greater than the pure shear capacity of the top tee composite section, Vmt(sh)
(Clawson & Darwin 1982; Donahey & Darwin 1986), so that:

Vpt Vmt Vmt(sh)

Vmt ( sh) V pt 9.19 f ck Avc (21)

where Avc = effective concrete shear area = 3( te + hF ) te

te and hF in meters. For solid slabs hF = 0.
fck = compressive strength of concrete in kN/m2
Vmt and Vpt in kN

Verification of the shear-moment interaction in the web openings

The shear-moment interaction may be conveniently verified through the following cubic equation (Darwin &
Donahey, 1988) that relates the factored loads and the factored resistances:
3 3
Md Vd
1 (22)
Mm Vm

where Md and Vd are, respectively, the factored moment and the factored shear.

Design Guidelines

To ensure that the strength provided by a beam at a web opening is consistent with the presented design
equations, some additional guidelines must be followed.

Local buckling of compression flange or reinforcement

To avoid the local buckling by bending moment, the width to thickness ratios of compression flange or web
reinforcement are limited by

b E
0.38 (23)
2t fy

Web buckling
From experimental results and numerical analysis, the following limits for the opening dimensions were
established to prevent local buckling of the web in the opening proximities:

5
 h E
the web width/thickness ratio, must not exceed 3.02
tw fy
h E
for 2.44 , ao / ho 3.0
tw fy

Vm 2/3 Vpl for steel beams and composite beams in negative moment regions; and
Vm 2/3 Vpl + Vc for composite beams in positive moment regions
V pt 1 0
Vc (shear carried by concrete slab)
Vmt sh V pt

E h E
for 2.44 3.02 , ao / ho 2.2
fy tw fy
Vm 0.45 Vpl either for steel beams or composite beams

the po parameter, given by

ao 6 ho
po (24)
ho d

must not exceed 5.6 in steel sections and 6.0 in composite beams.

Buckling of tee shape compression zone ( for steel beams only )

For rectangular unreinforced openings with Md /(Vd d ) > 20 in the opening centerline and > 4 , the tees in
the beam compression zone must be verified as an axially loaded column, with buckling length equal to ao.

Opening and tee dimensions

the opening depth should not exceed 70 percent of the section depth ( ho 0.7 d );
the depth of the top and bottom tees should not be less than 15 percent of the depth of the steel section (
sb 0.15 d and st 0.15 d );
the ratios ao /sb and ao /st should not be greater than 12 ( ao /sb 12, ao /st 12).

Minimum opening corners radius

The corners of the opening should have minimum radius equal to 2tw, or 16 mm, whichever is greater (Frost
& Leffler, 1971). It is not advisable to place openings in beams subject to loads that produce significative
stress cyclical oscillations, that may lead the beam to fatigue collapse.

Concentrated loads

Concentrated loads should not be placed above an opening. The use of bearing stiffeners to prevent web
crippling in the vicinity of an opening, due to a concentrated load, may be avoided provided that:
h b
(1) 2.44 E f y 0.31 E f y (25)
tw t
and the load is placed at least d/2 from the edge of the opening;
h b
(2) 3.02 E fy 0.38 E fy (26)
tw t
and the load is placed at least d from the edge of the opening;

6
In Eqns. (25) and (26) b and t represent the projected width and the thickness, respectively, of the flange
and reinforcement. In any case, the edge of an opening should not be closer than a distance d to a support.

Circular openings

Circular openings may be designed using the expressions for rectangular openings by using the following
substitutions for ao e ho :
- for unreinforced openings:
ho = Do for bending moment capacity (27a)
ho = 0.9 Do for shear force capacity (27b)
ao = 0.45 Do (27c)
- for reinforced openings:
ho = Do for bending moment and shear force (28a)
ao = 0.45 Do (28b)

Spacing between openings

The design expressions provided were developed for single openings. To use them when multiple openings
exist, the clear space between two adjacent openings should satisfy the equations (29) and (30), either for
steel beams or for composite beams.
for rectangular openings:
S ho (29a)
Vd V pl
S ao (29b)

1 Vd V pl

for circular openings:

S 1.5 Do (30a)
Vd V pl
S Do (30b)

1 V d V pl

in addition, for composite beams:

S ao (31a)
S 2,0 d (31b)

Openings reinforcement

The reinforcement must be consisted of bars parallel to the opening horizontal edges, continuously welded,
as close to an opening as possible, leaving adequate room for fillet welds (Figure 1). Continuous welds
should be used in both sides of the reinforcement bars. The required strength of the weld within the length of
the opening is
Rwri 2 Pr (32)

The reinforcement should be extended beyond the opening by a distance l1 (Figure 1) equal to ao/4 or
Ar 3 / ( 2t w ) , whichever is greater, on each side of the opening. Within each extension, the required strength
of the weld is
Rwre f y Ar (33)

7
Results

Using the proposed expressions, a computer analysis was carried out on IPE and UB series shapes to
determine sizes, shapes and positions of openings in web of beams that do not significatively affect either the
ultimate strength or the deflection, so that the design may be carried out disregarding the presence of the
opening.

Openings with depth equal to d/3 and with three shapes were previewed: rectangular with ao = 2 ho , square
(ao = ho) and circular with Do = d/3. The verifications were carried out on beams with L/d ratio equal to 10,
15, 20 and 25 (Verssimo, 1996). Beams with spans length from 3,00 m to 20,00 m were evaluated.

The opening depth was limited to d/3 so that the bending moment strength in the span centerline would not
undergo significative reduction.

It was established initially that the factored loading, qd , is uniformly distributed and yields the maximum
factored moment in the span center.

To delimit the region in which a given opening can be done in the beam web, disregarding the effective
existence of the opening in the design, it was considered as the critical point that at which the factored
loading exceeds in 5% the ultimate strength of the section.

The Tables 1 and 2 present the limits for the placing of the web openings, where xo is the opening centerline
coordinate relative to the left support.

TABLE 1
PARAMETERS FOR THE PLACING OF OPENINGS IN WEBS OF IPE SHAPES

rectangular openings with rectangular openings with circular openings

ao = 2 ho ao = ho
d = L/10 0.250 L xo 0.750 L 0.117 L xo 0.883 L 0.108 L xo 0.892 L
d = L/15 0.090 L xo 0.910 L 0.078 L xo 0.922 L 0.072 L xo 0.928 L
d = L/20 0.067 L xo 0.933 L 0.059 L xo 0.941 L 0.054 L xo 0.946 L
d L/25 0.053 L xo 0.947 L 0.047 L xo 0.953 L 0.043 L xo 0.957 L

TABLE 2
PARAMETERS FOR THE PLACING OF OPENINGS IN WEBS OF UB SHAPES

rectangular openings with rectangular openings with circular openings

ao = 2 ho ao = ho
d = L/10 0.350 L xo 0.650 L 0.250 L xo 0.750 L 0.125 L xo 0.875 L
d = L/15 0.200 L xo 0.800 L 0.078 L xo 0.922 L 0.072 L xo 0.928 L
d = L/20 0.067 L xo 0.933 L 0.059 L xo 0.941 L 0.054 L xo 0.946 L
d L/25 0.053 L xo 0.947 L 0.047 L xo 0.953 L 0.043 L xo 0.957 L

8
NOTATION

Af Area of flange
Ar Cross-sectional area of reinforcement along top or bottom edge of opening
As Cross-sectional area of steel in unperforated member
Asn Net area of steel section with opening and reinforcement
Ast Net steel area of the top tee
C Compression force in the concrete slab
Ch Axial force in concrete at high moment end of opening
Cl Axial force in concrete at low moment end of opening
Do Diameter of circular opening
Lb Unbraced length of compression flange
PNA Plastic neutral axis
Mm Maximum nominal bending capacity at the location of an opening
Mpc Plastic bending capacity of an unperforated composite beam
Mpl Plastic bending capacity of an unperforated steel beam
Pr Axial force in opening reinforcement = Ar fy
Qn = qn = sum of the individual shear connector capacities qn between the high moment end of
opening and the support
Rwr Required strength of the weld in the reinforcement
Rwri Required strength of the weld in the reinforcement in the opening length
Rwre Required strength of the weld in the reinforcement extension
S Clear space between adjacent openings
T Tensile force in net steel section
Vm Maximum nominal shear capacity at the location of an opening
Vmb, Vmt Maximum nominal shear capacity of bottom and top tees, respectively
Vmt(sh) Pure shear capacity of top tee
b Width in general
be Effective width of concrete slab
bf Width of flange
d Depth of steel section
d h , dl Distance from top of steel section to centroid of concrete force at high and low moment ends of
opening, respectively
dr Distance of outside edge of flange to centroid of opening reinforcement; may have different values
in top and bottom tees
h Web height = d - 2 tf
hF Nominal height of the ribs in composite beams with steel deck
ho Depth of opening
n Number of shear connectors between the high moment end of opening and the support
no Number of shear connectors onto the opening
qn Individual shear connector capacity, including reduction factor for ribbed slabs
s, sb, st Depth of a tee, bottom tee and top tee, respectively
te Effective thickness of concrete slab
tf Thickness of flange
ts Total thickness of concrete slab
ts' Effective thickness of concrete slab in composite beams with steel deck = ts - hF
tw Thickness of web
As Net reduction in area of steel section due to presence of an opening and reinforcement
As = ho tw - 2 Ar
Resistance factor = 0,90
9
 Slenderness parameter for local buckling of the web
, b, t Ratio of length to depth or length to effective depth for a tee, bottom tee or top tee, respectively =
ao / s or ao / s
Poisson's ratio

REFERNCIAS

ABNT (1986) Associao Brasileira de Normas Tcnicas, Projeto e Execuo de Estruturas de Ao de

Edifcios, NBR 8800/86, Rio de Janeiro.
Clawson, W. C., and Darwin, David, Strength of Composite Beams with Web Openings, ASCE Journal of
the Structural Division, 1982, 108(3):623-641.
Darwin, D., and Lucas, W. C., LFRD for Steel and Composite Beams with Web Openings, ASCE Journal of
Structural Engineering, 1990, 116(6), 1579-1593.
Donahey, Rex C., and Darwin, D., Performance and Design of Composite Beams with Web Openings,
Structural Engineering and Engineering Materials SM Report No. 18, 1986, University of Kansas Center
for Research, Lawrence, Kansas.
Donahey, Rex C., and Darwin, D., Web Openings in Composite Beams with Ribbed Slabs, ASCE Journal of
Structural Engineering, (1988), 114(3), 518-534.
Frost, Ronald W., and Robert E. Leffler, Fatigue Tests of Beams with Rectangular Web Holes, ASCE
Journal of the Structural Division, 1971, 97(2), 509-527.
Verssimo, G. S., (1996). Analysis and behavior of steel and composite beams with web openings, M.S.
Thesis, Escola de Engenharia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

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