AN APPRAISAL, BY COMPARISON WITH EXPERIMENTAL-DATA, OF NEW DESIGN PROCEDURES FOR ALUMINUM PLATE GIRDERS

This Paper gathers together the results of 58 tests on aluminium plate girders, loaded predominantly in shear, to form an experimental datab ase. The results are then used to appraise various design methods for aluminium girders. It is shown that the tension field method, as origi nally developed for steel plate girders, may predict unsafe collapse l oads for aluminium girders. A modification of the method, proposed by Evans and Burt, is shown to produce results that are always safe altho ugh rather conservative. The new limit state design code BS 8118 will also produce safe designs for the web panels and any transverse or lon gitudinal stiffeners. Although the new code is very conservative, it i s shown to represent a very significant advance from the previously av ailable Code CP 118.