Shear design rules for lipped channel beams with non-circular web openings

Cold-formed steel Lipped Channel Beams (LCB) with web openings are commonly used as floor joists and bearers in building structures. The shear behaviour of these LCBs with web openings is complicated and their shear capacities are considerably reduced by the presence of web openings. However, limited research has been undertaken on the shear behaviour and strength of LCBs with non-circular web openings (square, rectangular and elliptical web openings), and hence a numerical study was undertaken in this research to investigate the shear behaviour and strength of LCBs with non-circular web openings. Numerical results showed that the current design rules in cold-formed steel structures design codes are conservative or unsafe. Hence improved design equations were proposed for the shear strength of LCBs with non-circular web openings based on the results from the numerical parametric study