Flexural Behavior of Stainless Steel V-Stiffened Lipped Channel Beams

Six groups of austenitic 022Cr19Ni10 stainless steel bending specimens with three types of cross-sectional forms were used to study the impact of V-stiffeners on the failure mode and flexural behavior of stainless steel lipped channel beams. These cross-sectional forms included V-stiffeners in the web compression zone at 1/3 height near the compressed flange and no V-stiffeners on the flange, V-stiffeners in the web compression zone at 1/3 height near the compressed flange and V-stiffeners in the middle of the compressed flange, and V-stiffeners on the web at 1/2 height and V-stiffeners in the middle of the compressed and tensioned flange. The findings show that the specimens without a V-stiffener on the flange and with a V-stiffener in the web compression zone at 1/3 height near the compressed flange have a lower ultimate bearing capacity as a result of local–distortional interaction buckling. The test specimen’s flexural bearing capacity will rise with an increase in web height under the same stiffening form and other fixed cross-sectional parameters. Furthermore, the additional V-stiffeners in the middle of the flange effectively lower the width-to-thickness ratio of the stainless steel specimen with a flange that has been V-stiffened, thus increasing the specimen’s bending bearing capacity by 13% and emphasizing the distortional buckling issue. Buckling first manifests in the compression flange and is caused by the stress evolution on the web of the bending specimen, which is constrained by the V-stiffeners. The specimen’s capacity to withstand bending loads can be improved more successfully through the use of V-stiffeners in the web compression zone at 1/3 height close to the compressed flange and V-stiffeners in the middle of the compressed flange. For the test data, a finite element simulation was established, and the results are generally consistent with the test results.