Non Linear Analysis of Shear Optimization and Strengthening of Light Steel Beams with Stiffened Web Opening

Light Steel beam (LSB) is a new cold-formed Steel hollow flange channel section produced using a patented manufacturing process. It is commonly used as flexural members in residential, industrial and commercial buildings. Current practice in flooring systems is to include openings in the web element of floor joists or bearers so that building services can be located within them. Test results have shown that the shear capacity of LSBs can be reduced considerably by the inclusion of web openings. A cost effective method of eliminating the detrimental effects of a large web opening is to attach suitable stiffeners around the web openings of Light Steel Beams. In this paper, finite element analysis is done for the shear optimization of Steel beams with openings using stiffeners. ANSYS is used for the analysis.