Influence of bearing length on the patch loading resistance of multiple longitudinally stiffened webs

Incremental launching is one of the common steel bridge assembly methods used nowadays, its practical application consists in passing the bridge assembly through the launching shoes as well as over each support pile. In some cases, when plate girders are used, it is usual to find longitudinal stiffeners reinforcement in order to prevent web local buckling produced by the vertical reaction acting in the support pile. A considerable number of studies have focused on evaluating the impact of a single stiffener on the resistance of plate girder subjected to patch loading. However, the effect of multiple longitudinal stiffened plate girders subjected to lengthy compressive load has received little attention. Therefore, this paper aims at studying the influence of load bearing length on the ultimate strength of multiple longitudinally stiffened webs subjected to compressive loads. Patch loading resistance is numerically calculated using a previously validated nonlinear finite element analysis. Subsequently, a parametrical study is conducted to investigate the effect of the aforementioned load length and the relative position and size of the stiffeners on the ultimate strengthPeer Reviewe