scope:

Eight ultimate load tests were performed on three 36-in. deep Unsymmetrical plate girders. One girder was 25 ft long, two were 30 ft long. All girders had the same cross section. With the area of the bottom flange 2% times larger than the top flange, the centroidal axis was approximately one-sixth of the depth below the mid-depth of the web plate. The web slenderness ratio beta for all specimens was 295. The panels had aspect ratios alpha of 0.8, 1.2 and 1.6. The loading conditions employed were pure bending, dorninant shear, and combined shear and bending. A comparison of the experimental ultimate strengths with the strengths computed using the theories developed by Basler and Thurlimann shows the girder strengths under dominant shear to be 12, 17, and 19 percent higher than the theoretical values. The ultimate loads from the bending tests were 6 and 9 percent higher than predicted. The tests under combined high bending and high shear gave strengths 8 percent higher and 8 and 12 percent lower than indicated by the current theoretical interaction envelope.