Bending Behavior of Hybrid High Performance Steel Beams

This paper investigates the flexural strength and ductility of hybrid high performance steel (HPS) I-beams. Three simple supported I-beams were tested to study the bending behavior of hybrid beams with Q&T HPS 485W in flanges and Q235 in webs. Experimentally verified nonlinear finite element modeling techniques were then employed in a parametric study including the influence of cross section compactness and material match in hybrid design on rotation capacity of beams. It is observed that the compactness of flange and web have a major influence on the rotation capacity of flexural beam. As a result, appropriate compactness criteria are suggested for use in the design of HPS 485W hybrid beams employing compact webs made from lower strength steels.