656

Behaviour of steel and (or) composite girders with

corrugated steel webs
Ezzeldin Yazeed Sayed-Ahmed

Abstract: Composite beams with corrugated steel webs represent a new innovative system which has emerged in the
past decade for short and medium span bridges. The new system usually combines the usage of corrugated steel plates
as webs and reinforced/prestressed concrete slabs as flanges for plate or box girders. Bridges that have been recently
built with this hybrid system are outlined in this paper, which focuses on the advantages of using corrugated steel webs
as opposed to traditional flat webs. The flexural behaviour and bearing resistance of girders with corrugated steel webs
is briefly discussed. The flanges of the new system solely provide the flexural strength of the beam with no contribu-
tion from the corrugated web. On the other hand, the corrugated web provides the shear capacity of the system. Thus,
the shear behaviour of girders with corrugated webs is explicitly discussed focusing on the different failure and (or)
buckling modes that affect the design of the corrugated steel web plates. Design charts for such webs are constructed
based on the different interaction equations of failure. The torsion-warping behaviour of composite box girders with
corrugated steel webs is also discussed.

Key words: bridges, composite beams, corrugated steel webs, global buckling mode, interactive buckling, local
buckling.

Résumé : Les poutres composées avec des âmes d’acier ondulées représentent un nouveau système innovateur, qui a
émergé dans la dernière décennie pour des ponts de courte et moyenne portée. En général, ce nouveau système com-
bine l’utilisation de plaques d’acier ondulées en tant qu’âmes avec des dalles de béton armé/précontraint en tant
qu’ailes afin de former des poutres de type plaque ou boîte. Des ponts, qui ont été récemment construits selon ce sys-
tème hybride, sont mis en lumière dans cet article, qui se concentre sur les avantages d’utiliser des âmes d’acier ondu-
lées par opposition à des âmes traditionnelles plates. Le comportement en flexion et la résistance au chargement des
poutres sont discutés brièvement. Seules les ailes de ce nouveau système fournissent la résistance en flexion de la
poutre, puisqu’il n’y a pas de contribution provenant de l’âme. Cependant, l’âme ondulée fournit la capacité contre le
cisaillement du système. Donc, le comportement en cisaillement de poutres avec des âmes ondulées est discuté explici-
tement, avec une attention particulière donnée sur les différents modes de défaillance et/ou flambage qui affectent la
conception des plaques d’âmes d’acier ondulées. Des graphiques de conception pour de telles âmes sont construits sur
la base des différentes équations d’interaction pour la défaillance. Le comportement en torsion-gauchissement de pou-
tres de type boîte avec des âmes d’acier ondulées est aussi discuté.

Mots clés : ponts, poutres composées, âmes d’acier ondulées, mode de flambage global, flambage interactif, flambage
local.

[Traduit par la Rédaction] Sayed-Ahmed 672

Introduction
During the past decade, corrugated steel webs were intro-
duced to replace the stiffened steel plates of plate/box gird-
ers for bridge beams. Generally, beams and girders with
Received October 3, 2000. Revised manuscript accepted
April 3, 2001. Published on the NRC Research Press Web
site at http://cjce@nrc.ca on July 26, 2001.
E.Y. Sayed-Ahmed. Department of Structural Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, Abbassia,
Cairo, Egypt (e-mail: eysahmed@intouch.com).
Written discussion of this article is welcomed and will be
received by the Editor until December 31, 2001.
1
Hondani Bridge. 1998. Design drawings. Japan Highway Public Corporation. Personal communication.
corrugated webs are more economical and improve the aes-
thetics of the structure.
The idea of using corrugated webs was first introduced for
steel beams in buildings with web thickness ranging between
2 and 5 mm. This thickness results in a corresponding web
height to thickness ratio varying between 150 and 260.
Using corrugated webs for bridge girders allows the web
height to thickness ratio to reach 400. Typical thickness of
corrugated web plates used lately in bridges was 8–12 mm,
which results in a web height to thickness ratio range be-
tween 220 and 375. A web height to thickness ratio of about
445 was recently used in Japan (Hondani Bridge1).
Corrugated web girders can be constructed with two steel
flanges, with upper concrete and lower steel flanges, or with
upper and lower concrete flanges (Fig. 1). When used as
flanges, the concrete is usually prestressed. In the case of us-

Can. J. Civ. Eng. 28: 656–672 (2001) DOI: 10.1139/cjce-28-4-656 © 2001 NRC Canada
Sayed-Ahmed
ing corrugated plates as webs for composite box girder
bridges, the bridge is usually prestressed with steel tendons
imbedded inside the box girders. The two main profiles of
corrugation that are typically used for webs are the trape-
zoidal and the zigzag corrugations shown in Fig. 2.
Corrugated webs withstand shearing forces without carry-
ing any axial stresses due to flexure, prestressing, creep, etc.
Thus, the only stresses appearing in the corrugated webs are
almost pure shear stresses (Johnson and Cafolla 1997a;
Elgaaly et al. 1997). As a result, the use of corrugated webs
may become a very attractive alternative to flat plate steel
webs especially for composite prestressed bridges.
Local stability of each steel strip between two folds “pan-
els” can be studied using the existing equations derived for
isotropic plates. On the other hand, global stability of the
web can be investigated using the stability equations derived
for orthotropic plates. The form and wavelength of the cor-
rugation are then designed to ensure the general stability of
the webs using the appropriate safety factors.
In the following sections, an overall perusal of the current
state of corrugated steel web beams in design and construc-
tion practice is introduced. Bridges that have been recently
built with corrugated steel webs are outlined. The merits and
shortcomings of using corrugated steel webs are discussed.
The flexural and bearing strengths of girders with corrugated
steel webs are briefly addressed, and the shear behaviour of
girders with corrugated webs is explicitly investigated and
design charts are constructed based on the different interac-
tion equations of failure in shear. Lastly, the torsion and
warping behaviour of composite box-girders with corrugated
steel webs are outlined.
Aspects of beams with corrugated steel
webs
The merits of replacing the conventional flat web of a
steel plate girder with a corrugated one for prestressed box-
or I-girder were first recognized by the research team of
Campenon Bernard BTP, France. Cheyrezy and Combault
(1990), Johnson and Cafolla (1997a), El-Metwally and Loov
(1998a), Lebon (1998), Yoda et al. (1994a, 1994b), and
Elgaaly et al. (1996) reported the following aspects for using
beams with corrugated steel webs:
• Higher transverse stiffness due to the corrugation depth
combined with higher resistence to in-plane shear forces
due to the narrow spaced folds results in higher resistance
to global and local buckling of the web.
• Decreasing the sensitivity to buckling will consequently
decrease the effect of the initial geometric imperfections.
• Due to the increased transverse stiffness, the number of
intermediate diaphragms required to transmit transverse
loads is reduced.
• The decreased axial stiffness of the web prevents it from
carrying or transmitting axial force due to flexure, pre-
stressing, shrinkage, creep, or temperature effects. Thus, a
corrugated web of a beam resists only principal stresses
caused by shear (and torsion in the case of box girders).
• When the bottom concrete flange is prestressed, longitudi-
nal prestressing force does not dissipate into the web and
thus fewer tendons are used.
657
Fig. 1. Schematic of girders with corrugated steel webs used in
bridges.
• Using composite box or I girders, the ideal usage of mate-
rial is achieved: reinforced or prestressed concrete flanges
to sustain flexure and steel webs to carry shear forces.
Furthermore, the elastic lever arm is increased to its maxi-
mum value.
• For box girders with corrugated steel webs, resistance to
distortion of the section is higher and more uniform along
the member compared to box girders with flat plate steel
webs.
• For I girders with corrugated steel webs, some increase in
the thickness of the flanges may be necessary because the
effective flange outstand will exceed half the flange width
and the contribution of the web to the flexural strength is
reduced.
• Corrugated webs are slightly more flexible in shear than
flat webs, but the increase in deflection is small in com-
parison with the deflection in flexure.
• Higher cost of fabrication is perceived to be the main dis-
advantage. However, compared with a conventional flat
steel plate web, the difference in the cost should be small
as all the stiffeners with the accompanying welding pro-
cess are eliminated.
• A reduced web thickness, combined with the elimination
of the welded stiffeners altogether, leads to lighter and
more economical girders and bearings.
Worldwide bridge girders with corrugated
steel webs
Bridges with corrugated steel web girders built in
France
Two combined new innovations were achieved in France
through a research programme aimed at improving the cur-
rent knowledge in the field of bridges. These were external
prestressing accompanied by using composite girders with
corrugated steel webs.
Tests on large-scale box girders were successfully per-
formed by Campenon Bernard BTP, together with consider-
able theoretical analyses. These tests led to the construction
© 2001 NRC Canada
658 Can. J. Civ. Eng. Vol. 28, 2001

Fig. 2. Common profiles of corrugated steel plates: (a) trapezoidal and (b) zigzag. The thickness of the plate is tw; s = 2(b + d/cos a )
for the trapezoidal profile and s = 2(d/cos a ) for the zigzag profile; and h = d tan a .

Fig. 3. Cross section of the Cognac Bridge box girder.

of the first bridge with a corrugated web girder in France:
the Cognac Bridge (Cheyrezy and Combault 1990). The
bridge has a continuous three-span prestressed box girder
with a trapezoidally corrugated steel web. The total length of
the bridge is 107.82 m, which includes two side spans of
32.455 m each and one intermediate span of 42.91 m. The
cross section of the box girder is shown in Fig. 3. The top
and bottom concrete flanges of the box girder are 11.70 and
4.17 m wide respectively. The trapezoidally corrugated web
is 8 mm thick with a corrugation panel width of 420 mm, a
corrugation depth of 240 mm, a panel height of 1.771 m,
and an angle of corrugation of 35°. The total depth of the
box girder is 2.60 m. The bridge is prestressed with four
Freyssinet tendons, each made of 19-5/8 in. strands. These
prestressing strands run inside the box girder and are an-
chored at the deck ends into solid reinforced concrete
blocks. The top and bottom concrete slabs have been cast-in-
place on false-work.
Subsequent to the success of the Cognac Bridge, three
more bridges with trapezoidally corrugated steel webs were
built in France: the Maupré viaduct, the Astérix Bridge, and
the Dole Bridge.

© 2001 NRC Canada

Sayed-Ahmed
Fig. 4. Cross section of the Maupré viaduct box girder.
Fig. 5. Cross section of the Dole Bridge box girder.
The Maupré viaduct, with its innovative triangular cross
section box girder, was the second bridge to be designed us-
ing the new composite prestressed system by Campenon
Bernard BTP (Combault 1988; Cheyrezy and Combault
1990). The bridge, completed in 1987, has seven spans vary-
ing from 40.95 to 53.55 m with a total length of 324.50 m.
The cross section of the bridge box girder is shown in Fig. 4.
The bottom flange of the box girder is a concrete-filled steel
pipe and the top flange is a transversely prestressed concrete
slab. Replacing the lower concrete slab with the concrete-
filled steel pipe reduced the required prestressing and al-
lowed the incremental launching of the bridge. The steel
pipe is 610 mm in diameter and the top deck is 10.75 m
wide. The total depth of the box girder is 3.00 m. Longitudi-
nal prestressing tendons were placed inside the box girder.
Twelve straight tendons, each made of 6-1/2 in. strands,
were centred close to the deck and anchored from pier to
pier. These tendons were tensioned prior to launching. Four
other trapezoidal-deviated tendons made of 19–5/8" strands
were tensioned after launching the deck and anchored from
659
one abutment to the other. The corrugated webs, which slope
at 45°, were welded to the steel tube to constitute an isosce-
les triangle with the deck slab.
The third bridge is the Astérix Bridge, which was com-
pleted in 1989 (Cheyrezy and Combault 1990). The two-
span bridge has a total length of 74.80 m. The main system
of the bridge consists of two steel girders with vertical cor-
rugated steel webs associated with a transversely prestressed
top concrete slab and traditional steel plate bottom flanges.
The bridge was constructed over a central abutment and then
launched across the freeway.
The Dole (La Corniche) Bridge, which was completed in
1995 in France, is another example (Reinhard 1994; Capra
and Leville 1996; Lebon 1998). This is the first prestressed
bridge with corrugated web to be constructed by the tradi-
tional balanced cantilever method. It is continuous over
seven spans: two 48.00 m end spans and five intermediate
spans 80.00 m each. The total length of the bridge is
496.00 m. The cross section of the bridge (Fig. 5) is a trape-
zoidal box girder with concrete top and bottom flanges 200–
© 2001 NRC Canada
660
Fig. 6. Cross section of the Shinkai Bridge box girder.
Fig. 7. Cross section of the Hondani Bridge box girder.
400 mm thick. The top concrete flange of the box girder is
14.50 m wide. On the other hand, the bottom concrete flange
has a width that varies between 7.00 m at the mid span and
5.146 m over the intermediate piers. The box girder depth
also varies from 2.50 m at mid-span and at the end of the
two side spans to 5.50 m on the intermediate piers. The cor-
rugated plates, which slope by about 17°, are 8 mm thick ex-
cept near the piers where they are 10 mm thick and near the
prestressing deviating diaphragms where they are 12 mm
thick. The distance between two folds of the corrugation is
430 mm and the corrugation depth is 220 mm.
Bridges with corrugated steel web girders built in
Japan
The first box girder bridge built with a corrugated steel
web in Japan was completed in 1993 (Naito and Hattori
1994; Yoda et al. 1994a, 1994b). The Shinkai Bridge has
one span with twin box girders. The cross section of the
bridge is shown in Fig. 6. The bridge is a skew bridge with
an angle of skew equal to 70°. The width of the bridge deck
Can. J. Civ. Eng. Vol. 28, 2001
is 14.80 m and it spans 30.00 m. The lower concrete flange
of each box girder is 2.10 m wide. The box girder depth is
1.90 m and the corrugated steel plate height is 1.183 m. In-
ternal and external cables have been used to longitudinally
prestress the bridge.
The second bridge built in Japan using one externally pre-
stressed box girder with a corrugated web is the Ginzan-
Miyuki Bridge, which is also known as the Matsu-Noki
Bridge (Isiguro et al. 1997; Tategami et al. 1997). The
bridge, which was completed in 1995, is continuous over
five spans with a total length of 210.00 m and a deck width
of 9.70 m. The approach span is 27.40 m long and the other
four spans are each 45.50 m long. The box girder depth is
3.00 m with a corrugated steel web having a thickness of 8
or 12 mm and a panel height of 2.21 m. The Ginzan-Miyuki
Bridge is the longest of its kind built in Japan to-date.
The latest bridge built in Japan using box girder with cor-
rugated web is the Hondani Bridge,1 which was completed
in 1997. The bridge is continuous over three spans: 44.013,
97.202, and 55.978 m. The total length of the bridge is
© 2001 NRC Canada
 Sayed-Ahmed
Table 1. Bridges with corrugated steel webs built in France and Japan to-date.*

Matsu-Noki
Bridge Pont du Cognac Maupré Viaduct Pont d’Astérix Dole Bridge Shinkai Bridge Bridge Hondani Bridge
Location City of Cognac, Maupré Valley near Motorway near Jura, France Niigata, Japan Akita, Shikok Japan
France Charolles, France Paris, France Island, Japan
Date 1986 1987 1989 1995 1993 1995 1997
Structural system Single P/C box Triangular P/C box P/C slab on two Single P/C box girder Twin P/C box Single P/C box Single P/C box
girder† girder steel beams girder girder girder
No. of spans 3, continuous 7, continuous 2, continuous 7, continuous 1, simple 5, continuous 3, continuous
Total length (m) 107.82 324.50 74.80 496.00 31.00 210.00 198.40
Span lengths (m) 32.455, 42.91, 40.95, 47.25, 53.55, 2 × 37.00 48.00, 5 × 80.00, 30.00 27.40, 4 x 45.50 44.013, 97.202,
32.455 50.40, 47.25, 48.00 56.978
44.10, 40.95
Deck width (m) 11.70 10.75 13.00 14.50 14.80 9.70 10.49
Total depth (m) 2.60 3.00 2.10 2.50 mid-span 1.90 3.00 2.50 mid-span
5.50 over support 6.40 over support
Span to depth 13 ~ 17 14 ~ 18 18 19 ~ 32 mid-span 16 9 ~ 15 18 ~ 39 mid-span
ratio 9 ~ 15 over support 7 ~ 15 over support
Web thickness 8 8 — 8 ~ 12 9 8 – 12 12
(mm)
Web height (mm) 1771 1081 ~ 4011 1183 2210 1780 ~ 5250
Web height to 221 135 ~ 334 131 184 ~ 276 148 ~ 445
thickness ratio
*
Source: Cheyrezy and Combault 1990; Hondani Bridge (personal communication; see footnote 1); El-Metwally 1999; Sayed-Ahmed 2000; Combault 1988; Yoda et al. 1994a, 1994b.
†
P/C, prestressed concrete.
© 2001 NRC Canada

661
662
Fig. 8. Details of the experimental investigation performed by
El-Metwally (1999): (a) typical cross section of the girders and
(b) loading configuration adopted in all the tests.
198.353 m. The top slab is 11.400 m wide and the bottom
slab is 6.200 m. The depth of the box girder is 6.400 m at
the support and 2.500 m at the middle of the central span.
The bridge used a new form of transverse steel shear con-
nectors (concrete dowels) between the corrugated steel web
and the concrete flanges (Leonhardt 1987; Roberts and Hey-
wood 1994; Yoda and Ohura 1995; Yoda et al. 1998). The
cross section of the bridge is shown in Fig. 7.
In Table 1, a comparison between the aspects of the four
bridges built in France and the three bridges built in Japan is
presented.
Proposed bridges with corrugated steel webs
The successfully used new bridge system of France and
Japan also led to proposing the same concepts for the
bridges in Taiwan which will cover about 207 km out of the
345 km new route. Four box girders were built and tested
under cyclic flexural loading for that purpose by Mo et al.
(1998). Each girder was 5.00 m long and 0.365 m deep. The
top and bottom slab thicknesses were 85 and 60 mm respec-
tively. Mo et al. (1998) investigated the effect of prestressing
level and the concrete strength of the top and bottom flanges
on the flexural behaviour of the proposed structural system.
They used prestressing levels ranging between 0.3 and 0.8 of
the yield stress of the strands, fy-p, and concrete strengths, fc¢,
ranging from 33 to 50 MPa. Their tests showed the high
level of ductility under cyclic loading provided by the pre-
stressed box girder with corrugated steel webs. They recom-
mended using an effective presstressing level of 0.5 times
the yield stress of the strands.
Two other bridges have been proposed: Caracas Bridge
(Venezuela) and Tronko Bridge (Norway). The Caracas
Bridge is a variable-depth continuous composite box girder
with four spans of 212.00 m. The total length of the bridge
Can. J. Civ. Eng. Vol. 28, 2001
is 898.00 m (Cheyrezy and Combault 1990). The corrugated
steel web of the Tronko Bridge will be welded on bottom
steel flanges. The bridge will have two cantilevered side
spans over the piers with longitudinal prestressing in the top
slab and a simply supported drop-in central span. The total
length of the bridge is 192.00 m (Cheyrezy and Combault
1990).
Flexural behaviour of beams with
corrugated steel webs
Despite the fact that the potential advantages of using cor-
rugated webs are found to be greater in composite box gird-
ers, their main structural behaviour can first be deduced
from investigating steel plate girders (El-Metwally and Loov
1998a, 1998b, 1999).
Flexural strength of steel beams with corrugated webs
Elgaaly et al. (1997) and Johnson and Cafolla (1997a,
1997b) presented wide numerical and experimental investi-
gations on the flexural strength of steel beams with corru-
gated webs. They concluded that the contribution of the
corrugated web to the ultimate moment capacity of the beam
is negligible. Thus, the ultimate moment capacity of a steel
beam with corrugated web can be based on the flange yield
stress with no contribution from the web. Furthermore, the
shear is carried entirely by the web and is controlled by
buckling. The flanges provide boundary supports for the web
which lie somewhere between a simply supported boundary
and a clamped one. The clamped assumption for the web
boundaries is typical when the flanges are made of concrete
while the simply supported boundary is closer to beams with
steel flanges. It appears from these investigations that there
is no interaction between bending and shear behaviour of
beams with corrugated steel webs.
For design purposes, the normal ultimate moment of a
steel beam with corrugated steel web may be defined by
[1] Mult = (bfltflfy)(hw + tfl)
where bfl and tfl are the flange width and thickness respec-
tively, hw is the web height, and fy is the yield stress of the
steel used in the flanges.
Local flange buckling of steel beams with corrugated
steel webs
Design against local buckling of the compression flange
of steel beams with corrugated steel web is controlled by the
flange outstand. Generally, a corrugated steel web beam has
a large and a small flange outstands in the same section.
Using the large outstand to determine the slenderness of the
compression flange will always be on the conservative side.
Johnson and Cafolla (1997b) concluded that the major
factor affecting the flange outstand is the corrugation angle
of the corrugated steel web plate. They performed experi-
mental and analytical investigations to determine a criterion
for the flange outstand and defined it for an angle of corru-
gation equal to 30°. This criterion is still limited in applica-
tion and needs further investigation to account for other
corrugation angles and profiles. Thus, it is recommended by
© 2001 NRC Canada
Sayed-Ahmed
the author to base the design on the larger flange outstand
for this kind of beams.
Flexural strength of composite beams with corrugated
steel webs
El-Metwally (1999) completed an experimental investiga-
tion on the behaviour of composite prestressed beams with
corrugated steel webs. The dimensions of the tested girders
were chosen to verify a main criterion: the relative dimen-
sions and the span to depth ratio have to be comparable to
those of practical bridge girders. I-shaped girders were
tested rather than box girders, since they are easier to con-
struct and the obtained results are applicable to both shapes.
For the same reasons a zigzag profile was chosen for the
corrugated webs of all the tested girders. Five panel widths
were chosen for the corrugation: 285, 215, 175, 110, and
80 mm. The corrugated web thickness was 0.91 mm and the
angle of corrugation was 20°. The top and bottom concrete
flanges were 100 and 130 mm deep respectively. The bottom
flange of each beam was prestressed using three concentric
straight 7-wire strands. A typical cross section of the beams
is shown in Fig. 8a. All the beams were tested in four-point
loading as shown in Fig. 8b.
A typical load–deflection curve for one of the test series is
plotted in Fig. 9. The behaviour of the five beams is similar
in the sense that an initial load peak is reached, then the
beam continues to carry a light increase in load. The per-
centage of increase in failure load with respect to the initial
peak ranged between 5% and 15%. For design purposes, the
initial peak may be considered as the ultimate load which
can be carried by those beams.
From their test results, El-Metwally and Loov (1998a,
1998b, 1999) concluded the two basic conclusions which
were demonstrated earlier for the steel beams with corru-
gated webs: web contribution to the flexural strength of a
composite beam with corrugated steel web is negligible and
there is no interaction between the flexure and the shear be-
haviour of the beam. Thus, the ultimate moment capacity
Mult of the beams may be calculated considering that the top
flange carries the compressive stresses and the prestressing
tendons in the bottom flange carry the tensile stresses. This
will result in the ultimate moment capacity of the beam
cross section, which corresponds to the first peak of the
load–displacement curve.
Shear strength of beams with corrugated
steel webs
As mentioned earlier, the shear stress is carried entirely by
the web of a beam with a corrugated steel web. The flanges
provide the boundary restraints for the web which ranges be-
tween simply supported (steel flanges) and clamped (con-
crete flanges). In general, the behaviour is controlled by
buckling with no interaction between bending and shear be-
haviour.
Shear yielding of corrugated steel webs
If an element of the web is subjected to a pure shear stress
state along its edges, which causes it to yield, the shear
stress ty can be determined using von Mises yield criterion
with fy being the yield stress of the steel as
663
fy
[2] ty = » 0.6 fy
3
Stability of corrugated steel webs
Three modes of buckling are associated with corrugated
steel webs: the local buckling mode, the global buckling
mode, and the interactive buckling mode.
Local buckling mode
The local buckling mode corresponds to the instability un-
der uniform shear of a steel panel simply supported between
two folds. The corrugated web acts as a series of flat-plate
sub-panels that mutually support each other along their verti-
cal (longer) edges. The sub-panels are supported by the
flanges at their horizontal (shorter) edges. Buckling along a
single web panel is considered as the failure mode for this
case. Using the theory of stationary potential energy
(Timoshenko and Gere 1981), an estimate for the elastic crit-
ical shear stress can be given by (Galambos 1988)
2
p 2 E æ tw ö
[3] tcr,l = ks ç ÷
12(1 - v 2 ) è b ø
where tw is the web thickness, b is the panel width, E and n
are the Young’s modulus and the Poisson’s ratio for the steel
respectively, and ks is a shear buckling coefficient for the lo-
cal buckling mode. The buckling coefficient ks is a function
of the panel aspect ratio b/hw, with hw being the corrugated
web height, and the boundary restraints. It can be given by
2 3
b æ bö æ bö
[4a] ks = 5.34 + 2.31 - 3.44ç ÷ + 8.39ç ÷
hw è hw ø è hw ø
2
æ bö
[4b] ks = 8.98 + 5.6ç ÷
è hw ø
2
æ bö
[4c] ks = 5.34 + 4.0ç ÷
è hw ø
Equation [4a] is applicable when the long edges of the sub-
panels are simply supported while the short edges are
clamped: a typical case for composite beams with corrugated
steel webs. On the other hand, eqs. [4b] and [4c] are applica-
ble when all edges of the sub-panels are clamped and simply
supported respectively. Steel flanges usually provide bound-
aries to the corrugated web which are closer to be simply
supported rather than being clamped. Thus, for steel beams
with corrugated webs eq. [4c] is applicable.
Global buckling mode
The global buckling mode, in which failure is character-
ized by diagonal buckling over several corrugation panels, is
typical for dense corrugation, small corrugation depth, and
(or) small angle of corrugation. The critical shear stress is
estimated by considering the corrugated web as an
orthotropic plane plate with a thickness (corrugation depth)
of d tan a. Referring to Fig. 2 and using the Ritz method
(Easley and McFarland 1969, 1975; Peterson and Card
© 2001 NRC Canada
664 Can. J. Civ. Eng. Vol. 28, 2001

Fig. 9. Load–deflection for the beam A-110 tested by El- Fig. 10. Interaction between failure criteria for trapezoidally cor-
Metwally (1999). rugated steel plates based on eq. [9]: (a) 6 mm thick plates;
(b) 8 mm thick plates; and (c) 10 mm thick plates.

1960), the critical shear stress of this mode can be defined

by
(Dy Dx3)1/ 4
[5] tcr,g = kg
hw2 t w

The relevant parameters of eq. [5] are

(i) for a trapezoidal profile:

æ c ö æ Et 3 ö b + d æ Et w3 ö
Dy = ç ÷ çç w ÷ = ç ÷
è s ø è 12 ø b + d sec a è 12 ø
[6]
EI x E æ bt w(d tan a) 2 t w(d tan a) 3 ö
Dx = = ç + ÷
c b+d è 4 12 sin a ø

(ii) for a zigzag profile:

æ c ö æ Et 3 ö æ Et 3 ö
Dy = ç ÷ çç w ÷ = cos aç w ÷
è s ø è 12 ø è 12 ø
[7]
EI x E æ t (d tan a) 3 ö
Dx = = çw ÷
c d è 12 sin a ø

where Ix is the second moment of area of one “wavelength”

of the web having a projected length c and an actual length s
(Fig. 2), tw is the web thickness, b is the panel width and (d
tan a) is the corrugation depth (defined as h in Fig. 2). The
global shear buckling coefficient kg depends solely on the
web top and bottom restraints. The values used for kg are 36
for simply supported edges and 68.4 for clamped edges.
Like most analyses based on orthotropic plate theory, eq. [5]
takes no account for the restraint to warping of the web hori-
zontal cross section provided by the flanges (Cheyrezy
1987). Assuming no warping implies that the flanges are
stiff normal to their plane. Only composite flanges could If the critical shear stress resulting from eqs. [3] and [5]
provide the required restraint for the no warping model. exceeds 0.8 the yield stress, inelastic buckling will occur.
Thus, eq. [5] with kg = 36 is used in all cases, except when The following formula, adopted by the Eurocode 3 (BSI
both flanges are composite (concrete) where kg can be in- 1993), is suggested by Bergfelt and Leiva-Aravena (1984)
creased to 68.4 (Peterson and Card 1960; El-Metwally and and Elgaaly et al. (1996) for the inelastic critical shear stress
Loov 1998a, 1998b). Johnson and Cafolla (1997a) recom- in either the local or the global buckling mode of failure:
mended a value of 60.4 for the global buckling coefficient kg
in the case of composite beams with corrugated steel webs
and concrete flanges.
[8] tcr,in = 0.8tcr,e ty , tcr,e > 0.8ty

© 2001 NRC Canada

Sayed-Ahmed
Fig. 11. Interaction between failure criteria for trapezoidally cor-
rugated steel plates based on eq. [10]: (a) 6 mm thick plates;
(b) 8 mm thick plates; and (c) 10 mm thick plates.
where tcr,in is the inelastic critical shear stress, tcr,e is the
elastic critical stress resulting from either eq. [3] or eq. [5],
and ty is the yield stress given by eq. [2].
Interactive buckling mode
The interactive buckling mode results from the interaction
in the pure shear stress state between the global and local
buckling modes described earlier. Based on the experimental
analyses performed by Bergfelt and Leiva-Aravena (1984),
the critical stress of this mode can be given by
1 1 1 cussed failure criteria has been proposed by El-Metwally
[9] = +
tcr,i tcr,l tcr,g
665
Fig. 12. Interaction between failure criteria for zigzag corrugated
steel plates based on eq. [10]: (a) 6 mm thick plates; (b) 8 mm
thick plates; and (c) 10 mm thick plates.
The interaction among the three buckling modes and the
yield failure criteria for trapezoidally corrugated web plates
with simply supported boundaries is plotted in Fig. 10 for 6,
8, and 10 mm thick plates. A design curve for the maximum
shear strength td is obtained by taking the envelope of the
minimum values resulting from all these failure criteria, in-
cluding yielding of steel as shown in Fig. 10.
Interaction between buckling and yielding failure
criteria
An interaction equation among all the previously dis-
(1999) and El-Metwally and Loov (1998a). The new equa-
tion takes the form:
© 2001 NRC Canada
666 Can. J. Civ. Eng. Vol. 28, 2001

Fig. 13. Design chart for trapezoidally corrugated webs with an Fig 14. Design chart for zigzag corrugated webs with an angle
angle of corrugation equal to (a) 30°, (b) 37°, and (c) 45°. of corrugation equal to (a) 30°, (b) 37°, and (c) 45°.

æ 1 ö
n
æ
n
ö æ
n
ö æ ö
n the other hand, higher values for n will bring tcr,int closer to
[10] ç ÷ =ç 1 ÷ +ç 1 ÷ +ç1÷ the least of the three limits.
çt ÷ çt ÷ çt ÷ çt ÷
è cr,int ø è cr,l ø è cr,g ø è y ø Figures 11 and 12 show the interaction between local
buckling, global buckling, and yield failure criteria through
in which ty, tcr,l, and tcr,g are calculated using eqs. [2]–[8]. eq. [10] for n = 1 and 2 in the case of plates with trapezoidal
Equation [10] always takes the least value of the three limits corrugation profiles and for n = 2 and 3 in the case of plates
of the right-hand side as the upper limit for the resulting with zigzag corrugation profiles.
tcr,int in the left-hand side, regardless of the value of the ex- Figures 11 and 12 show that the recommended values for
ponent n. A low value for n (e.g., n = 1) results in a tcr,int the exponent n in eq. [10] are n = 2 for plates with trape-
that is considerably less than the least of the three limits. On zoidal corrugation profiles and n = 3 for plates with zigzag

© 2001 NRC Canada

Sayed-Ahmed 667

Fig. 15. Design chart based on eq. [11] for trapezoidally corru- Fig. 16. Design chart based on eq. [11] for zigzag corrugated
gated web plates with an angle of corrugation equal to (a) 30°, web plates with an angle of corrugation equal to (a) 30°,
(b) 37°, and (c) 45°. (b) 37°, and (c) 45°.

corrugation profiles. Thus, the interaction equation can be Design and dimensioning of corrugated web plates
rewritten as Johnson and Cafolla (1997a) reported that Campenon
— Trapezoidal corrugation profile: Bernard BTP used eq. [9] in their design of different bridge
girders with corrugated webs and applied factors of safety of
1 1 1 1 0.88 and 0.5 to the critical shear stress of the local and
[11a] = + +
t2cr,int t2cr,l tcr,g
2
ty2 global buckling modes respectively. The resulting value of
tcr,i was then multiplied by 0.67 and used as a design value.
Thus for design,
— zigzag corrugation profile:
[12] ti = 0.67tcr,i , tg = 0.50tcr,g , tl = 0.88tcr,l
1 1 1 1
[11b] = + + The web plate is generally designed for a known factored shear
t3cr,int t3cr,l tcr,g
3
ty3 Vf and thus a specific nominal shear resistance Vr (Vf £ Vr).

© 2001 NRC Canada

668
Fig. 17. Experimental (El-Metwally 1999) and theoretical predic-
tions of the shear strength for composite beams with corrugated
steel web having a zigzag profile.
The depth of the web hw depends on the required flexural
capacity of the girder. For plates with trapezoidal corruga-
tion profiles, the ratio between b and d (defined in Fig. 2) is
usually assumed as b/d = cos a so that the inclined part of
the corrugation will equal the straight part. The angle a is
chosen in the practical range of 30°–45°. The optimum
range for the ratio td/ty is 0.8–1.0, which results in an effi-
cient usage of steel. Design charts are constructed for angles
of corrugation a equal 30°, 37°, and 45° using eqs. [2]–[9]
and incorporating the factors of safety given by eq. [12].
These charts are shown in Figs. 13 and 14 for plates with
trapezoidal and zigzag corrugation profiles respectively. In
the case of a zigzag corrugation, the symbol bw used in
Fig. 14 refers to the width of the inclined panel.
In Figs. 15 and 16, design charts are plotted for corru-
gated webs based on the interaction between failure modes
defined by eq. [11]: values of n equal 2.0 and 3.0 are used
for trapezoidal and zigzag profiles respectively. The charts
are plotted for angles of corrugation equal 30°, 37°, and 45°.
No strength reduction factors are used in these charts. Thus,
a strength reduction factor f = 0.6 ~ 0.7 is recommended by
the author for the results obtained from Figs. 15 and 16.
Post-buckling strength of corrugated web beams
As mentioned earlier, El-Metwally (1999) tested five com-
posite prestressed I-section beams with zigzag profile corru-
gated steel webs (Fig. 8). The only variable investigated
through the five girders was the panel width b, where panel
widths equal to 285, 215, 175, 110, and 80 mm were used in
the five test specimens.
The theoretical shear buckling strength Vb calculated
based on the previous equations and the corresponding shear
buckling strength observed experimentally are compared in
Fig. 17. Furthermore, the ultimate shear strength Vu obtained
from these tests is plotted on the same figure. The shear
forces in all cases were calculated using V = hwtwt, where t
is either the shear stress obtained experimentally (El-
Metwally and Loov 1998a, 1998b, 1999) or the shear stress
theoretically calculated using eqs. [2]–[11].
It is evident from Fig. 17 that the panel width b signifi-
cantly affects the mode of buckling. For small panels (b falls
in region I), the web buckles in a global mode where the
Can. J. Civ. Eng. Vol. 28, 2001
Fig. 18. Effect of panel width on the post-buckling shear
strength for composite beams with corrugated steel web having a
zigzag profile.
buckling wave takes place over couple of panels. On the
contrary, for larger panels (b falls in region III), the buckling
mode changes to local buckling where the buckling wave is
local to each panel. If the panel width falls in region II, fail-
ure of the web is controlled by shear yielding and (or) an in-
teractive buckling mode.
The existence of a post-buckling strength is clearly shown
in Fig. 17. The post-buckling behaviour depends on how
close the web profile to the region governed by the shear
yielding (region II) as opposed to the regions governed by
global and local buckling (regions I and III). Once again, the
effect of the panel width is pronounced. Figure 18 shows
this effect on the post-buckling strength: as the panel width
gets larger, the post-buckling strength of the beam increases.
For example, the theoretically predicted shear strength based
on local buckling of a 285 mm panel width is 6.2 kN while
the ultimate shear strength of this beam is 35.1 kN. On the
other hand, for a panel width equal to 80 mm, those values
are 63.2 kN and 72.5 kN respectively. For the five analyzed
composite beams with corrugated steel webs, the post-
buckling strength ranges between 10% and 80% of the ulti-
mate shear strength as shown in Fig. 18.
Bearing resistance of beams with
corrugated steel webs
Crippling beneath point or patch loads does not cause in-
stantaneous failure to girders with corrugated steel webs.
Bergfelt et al. (1985) and Leiva-Aravena (1987) found out
from their experimental investigation that the load continued
to increase in a nonlinear fashion with the beam deflection
until it reached its ultimate value. This failure load ranged
between 1.1 and 1.8 of the first crippling load. Despite that
fact, Elgaaly and Seshadri (1997) calculated the web capac-
ity contribution to the web crippling strength based on the
empirical equation developed for girders with flat webs.
It was argued that web and flange thicknesses, load distri-
bution and position, and yield stress of the web are the most
effective factors regarding corrugated web crippling (Lou
1991; Lou and Edlund 1994; Lou and Edlund 1996). Thus,
based on a numerical analysis, Lou and Edlund (1996) de-
fined an empirical formula for the ultimate load that can be
© 2001 NRC Canada
Sayed-Ahmed
Fig. 19. Torsional behaviour of composite box girders with corrugated steel webs.
carried by girders with trapezoidally corrugated steel webs,
which is given by
Pu = 156
. g a g ct fl t w fy
s
[13] ga =
c
c*
gc = 1 +
240
where tfl, tw, and fy are the flange plate thickness, the web
plate thickness, and the yield stress of the corrugated web
plate respectively. The factor g a accounts for the corrugated
web configuration (s and c are defined in Fig. 2), and the
factor g c accounts for the patch loading width in the beam
direction (defined by c*). The constant 15.6 is an empirical
factor defined by Bergfelt and Lindgren (1974).
Torsion and warping behaviour of
composite box girders with corrugated
steel webs
When used in box girders, corrugated webs are usually
fixed to the concrete slabs forming composite sections as
shown in Fig. 1. These new composite sections have a spe-
cific complex behaviour in torsion where the cross section
behaviour is affected by the torsion warping interaction. De-
spite the fact that such a phenomenon exists in concrete box
girders, its effect is usually neglected because it is assumed
that the cross section behaviour is closer to that of a rigid
cross section. However, in the case of composite box girders
with corrugated steel webs, the hypothesis of rigidity of the
cross section is no longer valid.
The behaviour of a composite box girder with corrugated
web is comprised between two limit cases. The first limit is
a rigid cross section which can be analyzed with the Saint-
Venant’s theory of torsion. The second limit is the case of a
section made of plane panels connected to each other by
means of hinges where the flexural stiffness out of the
panel’s plane is of no importance and the resistance to tor-
sion is achieved by bending of the panels in their plane
(Lebon 1998). Thus, the behaviour of a composite box
girder with corrugated steel webs can easily be explained
when subjected to an anti-symmetric system of loading ac-
cording to the following hypotheses:
(1) The transverse flexural stiffness of a corrugated plate
is negligible if compared to the stiffness of the concrete slab.
In other words, the corrugated webs are assumed to be con-
nected to the slabs by means of hinges.
669
Fig. 20. Equivalent torsional moment and horizontal force of
eq. [14] versus the ratio between the upper and lower concrete
slab width a2/a1.
(2) Webs do not transfer any longitudinal forces, but only
shear forces. Due to the lack of general longitudinal stiff-
ness, external forces are only counteracted by shear stresses.
Equivalent elastic axial and shear constants for the corru-
gated steel plates (Yoda and Ohura 1993; Yoda et al. 1994a,
1994b) are given by
2
c æ tw ö
Eeq = ç ÷ E
[14] 4b + s è h ø
c
Geq = G
s
where E and G are the Young’s modulus and the shear
modulus of the steel respectively; s and c are corrugation
amplitude and the projected length of one corrugation re-
spectively, as shown in Fig. 2; tw is the corrugate plate thick-
ness; and h is the corrugation height. For a corrugated web
plate of thickness tw = 9 mm, a corrugation angle a = 37°,
and a corrugation panel width b = d/cos a = 250 mm,
eq. [14] defines Eeq = 0.0015E and Geq = 0.9G. This shows
the significant reduction in the axial stiffness of the corru-
gated steel plates compared to its shear stiffness.
Torsion effect
Using the above two assumptions and referring to Fig. 19,
if an external torsional moment Mt(x) is acting on a compos-
ite box girder, it will behave as if subjected to a theoretical
torsional moment C(x) to which the torsion theory applies,
© 2001 NRC Canada
670
Fig. 21. Effect of diaphragm: equivalent loading.
and to a horizontal loading H(x) (Combault et al. 1993;
Rossignoli 1997; Lebon 1998). The theoretical torsional mo-
ment C(x) is more unfavourable than the effectively applied
moment Mt(x). This theoretical torsional moment C(x) and
the horizontal force H(x) can be calculated as follows:
æ 1 ö
C (x) = M t (x)ç1 + ÷ at the ends of box girders prevent warping at their locations.
[15] è a 2 / a1 ø
M t (x) a 2
H(x) =
hg a1
It is evident from eq. [15] and both Figs. 19 and 20 that
the force resulting from the combination of H(x) and C(x) is
strictly equivalent to Mt(x). Furthermore, the torsional mo-
ment C(x) is more than twice the effectively applied tor-
sional moment Mt(x). It is also clear from both eq. [15] and
Fig. 20 that the ratio a2/a1 significantly affects the value of
this unfavorable torsional moment C(x) acting on the cross
section.
Warping restraint effect
As a result of the straining actions defined by eq. [15],
each cross section of the beam is subjected to an overall ro-
tation under the effect of the torsional moment C(x) and to a
displacement of the slabs due to the horizontal force H(x).
The webs also have a deflection in their plane to sustain the
compatibility of deformation at the connections between the
slabs and the webs. This is valid throughout the beam if no
diaphragms are provided. However, at the places of the dia-
phragms, the section is assumed to be rigid with no warping
of the cross section would occur at these locations.
Thus, if a diaphragm is provided at a distance xk, the sys-
tem of external forces shown in Fig. 21 will be generated.
The resulting stresses and deformations of the beam are
equivalent to that of the loading shown in Fig. 21 with a nil
resultant (Combault et al. 1993; Lebon 1998). The torsional
moment Ck and the horizontal force Hk at the diaphragm lo-
cation can be given by
C k = Fk (a1 + a 2 ) cos q
[16] (a + a 2 )
Hk = Fk 1 cos q
h
The original shape of the cross section is kept unchanged
after the deformation at the locations where the diaphragms
are provided. Thus, the horizontal deformation of the slabs
under the combined effect of H and Hk is equal to zero; the
slabs act as if transversely supported by the diaphragms. A
linear system of equations can be obtained, the solution of
Can. J. Civ. Eng. Vol. 28, 2001
which being the forces Hk. The complete solution results
from the superposition of the effects of C(x) and H(x) com-
bined with the effects of Ck and Hk on the beam.
Axial stresses due to the warping restraint effect
As mentioned earlier, the rigid end diaphragms provided
Furthermore, intermediate diaphragms may be provided
through the span to reduce the warping stress. To calculate
the resulting warping stress, the beam analogy model is used
(Sakai and Nagai 1977; Yoda et al. 1994a, 1994b). The
warping stress may be given by
Mw
[17] sw = f
Cw
where sw is the warping stress, Mw is the warping moment,
Cw is the warping constant, and f is a warping function de-
fined by Vlasov (1963).
Summary
A new innovative structural system which combines the
usage of external prestressing and corrugated steel webs has
recently been used for different bridge composite girders.
The merits of this new system were discussed focusing on
the advantages of using beams with corrugated steel webs as
opposed to the traditional flat web beams. Four bridges in
France and three in Japan have been built using externally
prestressed composite plate or box girders with corrugated
steel webs. The structural aspects of those bridges have been
discussed.
The flexural behaviour of the new composite girders is
distinct: the corrugated webs have no contribution to the mo-
ment capacity of the cross section. Thus, prestressing forces
of the lower concrete slabs do not dissipate into the web. It
is recommended for steel beams with corrugated steel webs
to use the longer flange outstand when calculating the flange
slenderness.
It was evident that there is no interaction between the
flexural and the shear behaviour of beams with corrugated
steel web. The web solely provides the shear strength of the
cross section, which is controlled by buckling. Three modes
of buckling exist in the case of corrugated webs: local buck-
ling mode, global buckling mode, and an interaction mode.
The critical shear stress for local buckling can be based on
the classical isotropic plate theory. On the other hand, criti-
cal shear stress for global buckling is obtained using an
equivalent plate thickness and the orthotropic plate equa-
tions. Consequently, equations for calculating the critical
© 2001 NRC Canada
Sayed-Ahmed
shear stress for each mode have been presented. The interac-
tion between the three buckling modes and the yield failure
criterion of the steel was explicitly studied. Design charts
based on this interaction have been plotted and presented in
this paper. Post-buckling shear strength of beams with corru-
gated steel webs was found to be significantly dependant on
the corrugation panel width. This post-buckling strength
may range between 10% and 80% of the total ultimate shear
strength of the beam.
When corrugated webs are used for composite box gird-
ers, a unique torsional–warping interaction behaviour re-
sults. The corrugated webs were assumed to be pin-
connected to the concrete slabs of the box girder and thus
the behaviour may be simplified.
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List of symbols
b corrugation panel width
bfl flange plate width
C(x) theoretical torsion acting on a composite box girder
with corrugated web
Ck theoretical torsion acting on a composite box girder
with corrugated web at the diaphragm locations
Cw warping constant
Can. J. Civ. Eng. Vol. 28, 2001
c projected length of one corrugation “wave”
d horizontal projection of the inclined corrugation panel
width
E Young’s modulus of the steel
Eeq equivalent Young’s modulus for corrugated steel web
plates
fc¢ concrete compressive strength
fy yield stress of the steel
fy-p yield stress of the prestressing tendons
G shear modulus of the steel
Geq equivalent shear modulus for corrugated steel web
plates
H(x) horizontal force acting at the level of the slab of a com-
posite box girder with corrugated web
Hk horizontal force acting at the level of the slab of a com-
posite box girder with corrugated web at the diaphragm
locations
h corrugation height
hw web height
Ix second moment of area of one corrugation wavelength
kg global buckling mode coefficient
ks local buckling mode coefficient
Mt applied torsional moment on a box girder
Mw warping moment
Pu ultimate bearing resistance of a corrugated web plate
s corrugation amplitude
tfl flange plate thickness
tw thickness of the web plate
Vb shear force causing buckling of the web
Vb-test buckling shear force observed during a test
Vcr,g maximum shear force sustained by a beam based on
global buckling mode
Vcr,i maximum shear force sustained by a beam based on an
interactive buckling mode between local and global
buckling modes
Vf factored shear force
Vr shear resistance of a beam
Vu-test ultimate shear strength of a beam observed during a test
a corrugation angle
ga a factor accounting for the corrugation profile
gc a factor accounting for patch loading width
n Poisson’s ratio
sw warping stress
tcr,e elastic critical shear stress
tcr,g critical shear stress in global buckling mode
tcr,i critical shear stress in an interactive mode resulting
from local and global buckling modes
tcr,in inelastic critical shear stress
tcr,int critical shear stress in an interactive mode resulting
from steel yielding and local and global buckling modes
tcr,l critical shear stress in local buckling mode
td design value for the shear stress
ty yield stress under pure shear stress state
© 2001 NRC Canada