Hybrid steel plate girders subjected to patch loading, Part 2: Design proposal

The resistance of plate girders subjected to patch loading has been studied thoroughly for the case of homogenous girders. The particular case of hybrid girders has been generally treated identically than for homogenous specimens. In this paper, the current EN1993-1-5 formulation is evaluated and some peculiarities concerning the treatment of hybrid girders subjected to patch loading are pinpointed. It is numerically demonstrated that the moment capacity of the flanges does not play any role in the resistance of plate girders to patch loading as predicted in EN1993-1-5. Accordingly, a design proposal which corrects the current EN1993-1-5 formulation is presented at the end of the paper.