£ Construct.SteelRes.Vol. 38, No. 3, pp.

219-238, 1996
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ELSEVIER

Tolerances of Initial Deflections of Steel Plates and

Strength of I Cross-section in Compression and
Bending*

Zolt~n Sadovsk~ & Ivan B a l ~ t'

alnstitute of Construction and Architecture of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dfbravskfi
cesta 9, 842 20 Bratislava, Slovakia
bFaculty of Civil Engineering of the Slovak Technical University, Departmem of Metal and
Timber Structures, Radlinsk6ho 11,813 68 Bratislava, Slovakia

(Received 31 May 1995; revised version received 28 February 1996; accepted 19 March
1996)

ABSTRACT

A further step towards the strength-based assessment of fabrication toler-

ances o( steel plates is attempted. The procedure presented derives from the
idea that the strength reduction of an I cross-section due to initial deflection
should not exceed, irrespective of the web-plate slenderness and of the type
of loading, the maximum strength reduction for the case of uniform com-
pression. Thus, despite the degrading influence of initial deflections, any I
cross-section could be exploited up to a certain percentage of the strength
of the cross-section with an initially fiat web-plate.
The lheoretical ultimate loads are calculated using the large deflection
theory of thin elastic plates. Employing the so called 'energy measure' of
imperfections a less conservative correspondence between the predominant
single mode initial deflection, adopted for specifying the tolerances, and of
the most dangerous one - - corresponding to the initial buckling mode of the
p l a t e - applied in calculations of strength, is established.
The application of the approach to the case of an unstiffened steel plate
girder of I cross-section shows that the currently applied tolerances may be
substamially relaxed. Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.

*The paper appeared under the title "Hi3chstwerte von Vorverformengen des Stegblechs end
Festigkeit eir~es d0nnwandigen I-Querschnittes bei Biegemoment- end Druckbeansprucheng"
in Stahlbau 64 (1995), H.3, 69-77; Appendix summarises the results contributed to the IXth
International Conference on Metal Structures in Cracow, Poland, 26-30 June 1995.

219
220 Z. Sadovslaj, I. BaldY.

NOTATION
a Plate length, distance of nodal lines
af Af/(bt)
Af Flange area
b Plate depth
(blt)~ Plate critical slenderness
c Flange half-breadth
Coefficient non-dimensionalising strain energy
Eigenvector series coefficients
E Young's modulus
L Yield stress
ko,Ko Constants in limiting equations
Eigenvalue coefficients
Gauge length
Smn Trigonometric functions
t Plate thickness
tf Flange thickness
w Overall deflection
Wo Initial deflection
Wmn Coefficients of w series
Wonln Coefficients of wo series
x,y Plate coordinates
Slenderness parameter
13. Critical slenderness parameter
Initial deflection parameter
E
Eigenvectors
Eigenvector of the smallest critical buckling stress in com-
pression
Slenderness parameter
lJ Poisson's ratio
g¢ xL/CrxL
P Reduction factor
O'xL Load p a r a m e t e r - loading stress at compression edge
Ultimate loading stress at compression edge
Loading stress defining stress distribution u Fig. 2
o'er Critical buckling stress
O'er,/ First (critical) and higher buckling stresses
Coefficients of w eigenvalue series

I].[] Energy measure of initial deflections (non-dimensional)

 Tolerances of initial deflections of steel plates 221

1 INTRODUCTION

Until structural engineers gained a deeper insight into the influence of initial
imperfecticms on the strength of steel plates and steel plated structures, the
tolerance standards were primarily based on the aesthetic judgment and pur-
poses of matching the connecting parts. Attributing initial distortions as the
main cause of several box girder bridge collapses in 1969-71, more stringent
tolerance and, therefore, costly specifications have been introduced. Engineer-
ing designers and fabricators objected to the elaborate checking procedures
advocated in the Merrison Rules ~ and emphasised the need for reasonably
simple one,s.
The rapid growth of theoretical studies in the 1970s enabled the correlation
between both geometrical and material imperfections and the reduction of
strength of structures to be quantified. The IABSE Task Group 'Tolerances
in Steel Plated Structures 2 concluded that it was necessary 'to adapt the new
design methods to the present state of development of good fabrication'. A
statistical approach with the 95% fractile as the representative (characteristic)
value of fitbrication tolerances was recommended.2 A similar approach was
earlier suggested by Carlsen and Czujko 3 for the use in ship-building practice.
Most steel design codes limit the maximum deflection Iwol of the plate panel
by a linear relationship between Iwol and a base gauge length lm as

Iwo[ ~ l,,,/Ko. (1)

These gauge lengths are generally the plate width b or 2b. The limit of b/250
is adopted in Refs 4 and 5 and with the gauge length 2b or rain(a, 2b) [a is
the distance of transverse stiffeners] instead of b in Ref. 2 and the new German
code DIN 18 800 Part 3, 6 respectively. The Czech-Slovak standard (~SN 73
26117 prescribes smaller values of the constant Ko for thinner plates (see also
Ref. 1), in particular, //0=250 for thicknesses t within the interval
10 > t -----8 (mm).
A theoretical strength-based approach to the specification of plate tolerances
was recently suggested by Rangelov. 8 Rangelov introduced a 'theoretically-
optimum' tolerance for a given loading case as the limit which 'ensures equal
strength reduction of plates having any slenderness ratio'. The reduction of
strength referred to the strength of the corresponding ideally flat plate. Further-
more, three loading cases, namely, uniform compression, eccentric triangular
compressicm and pure bending were chosen and as a 'basic' limiting ratio for
mild steel the value of b/250 was adopted. The strength reduction calculated
for a plate of corresponding critical slenderness and initial deflection having
the shape of the initial buckling mode and the 'basic' amplitiude IWol = b/250
was taken as the level of strength reduction for each of the loading cases.
222 Z. Sadovshj, L BaldY.

Evaluating the 'theoretically-optimum' tolerances by means of numerical

elastic large deflection analysis and a limit-state criterion defined by first-yield
of the membrane stresses, Rangelov 8 suggested the following tolerance
expression

b2
Iwol ~ 30000t
for bit > 120 (2)

or more generally

Iwol/t ~ [32/34 for [3 > 4 (3)

instead of b/250 and/3/8.5, respectively, might be adopted. Here [3 is the well-

known slenderness parameter

[3 = (b/t)qfy/E (4)

where fy is the yield stress and E is Young's modulus.

Among the investigations of the influence of imperfections on plate
strength, the most complete parametric study including all practically interest-
ing cases of loading with exception of pure bending and its combinations
with compression was performed by Dowling et al. 9 An important conclusion,
namely that for an initial deflection amplitude of the order of b/200, a residual
stress level of 10% of yield in the plate sufficiently covers the weakening
effect of such stresses, has been drawn in their second paper. 1° Moreover,
figure 6 of Ref. 10 shows that the ratios of compressive strengths, calculated
for the initial deflection amplitudes b1200 and bllO00, are at zero and 10%
of yield residual stresses almost equal. Thus, the effects of residual stresses
of this order on the relative decrease in strength due to an increase in initial
deflection amplitude from b/lO00 to b/200 are negligible.
The occurrence of various complex initial deflection shapes considerably
complicates the choice of parameter which would be suitable for the calcu-
lation of plate strength as well as being meaningful for specifying tolerances.
A number of papers deal with the effect of initial deflection shape on plate
strength assuming the amplitude as a measure of imperfections and introduc-
ing the idealized modes. As a rule the case of pure compression has been
studied. Thus, Hlav~i~ek11 calculated the stresses in a plate with aspect ratio
alb = 2 and initial deflections having one to three half-waves in the load direc-
tion and pointed out that the shape of the initial buckling mode is not the
most dangerous one. On the other hand, Carlsen and Czujko 3 studied the same
Wo shapes for a plate of aspect ratio a/b = 3 and found it to have the largest
 Tolerances of initial deflections of steel plates 223

weakening effect. Introducing the so-called 'energy measure' of imperfections

Sadovsk~ 1:2,13 proved theoretically that the most dangerous initial deflection
shape is the initial buckling mode and documented his conclusion with
numerical results. The most imperfection-sensitive range of slendernesses for
the initial deflection is near the so-called critical slenderness defined by the
intersection of the elastic buckling stress curve O'er with the yield strength
plateau. The slenderness parameter used in design codes

has the va~iue 1 at this point.

In the present paper we attempt to advance towards a strength-based theor-
etical assessment of fabrication tolerances for thin web-plates of unstiffened
plate girde:rs. The tolerances are derived from the condition of equal maximum
strength reductions for any slenderness using numerical solutions of elastic
large deflection equations of plate. Let us note, that Rangelov 8 restricts his
calculations of equal strength reduction to a particular loading case. Moreover,
in our study, the whole cross-section of the girder (including flange-plates) is
taken into account and a less conservative correspondence is established
between the predominant single mode initial deflection and of the most
dangerous one - - the initial buckling mode of the plate - - employed in calcu-
lations of strength. The initial deflections are related by the levels of the
energy measure.
The formulae for tolerances derived for the limiting ratio, b/250, are gener-
alised in the Appendix to allow for practically interesting starting ratios b/Ko
with Ko less than or equal to 250.

2 OBJECT OF THE STUDY

We consider a steel unstiffened plate girder of double-symmetric I cross-sec-

tion fabricated from thin web-plate of width b and thickness t and flange-
plates with cross-section areas Af = tf2c (Fig. 1).
The flange-plates are designed to satisfy the width-to-thickness ratio limit
for Class 3 given in Eurocode 314: cite <- 14E, ~ = ~/235/fy i.e. to be fully effec-
tive up to ~Lheyield stress. The web-plate belongs to Class 4 of Eurocode 3 TM
and necessary allowances for the effects of local buckling on its strength must
be made. ]Bracing of the girder, when acting in a structure, is assumed to
prevent the development of global buckling.
The predominant initial deflection mode in the web-plate corresponds to
224 Z. Sadovsk~j, I. Bald[

:Af
=_tf
/-::::-..
/ , .--. ",,\ If =
~,,f I,, ;~ ;Z : I

, a ~ Af
Fig. 1. Plate girder dimensions.

the single half-wave initial buckling mode (see Fig. 1) due to the residual
compressive forces associated with the shrinkage of the longitudinal edge
welds. In addition, other modes develop as a result of forming (initially bent)
component plates to the desired cross-section or from other causes e.g.
occasional hammering.

3 THEORETICAL MODEL

To describe the ultimate strength of the initially deflected web-plate large

deflection thin plate theory is used. Since the influence of initial deflections
on the shear strength of the plate is small,9 only the loading cases of in-plane
uniform and eccentric compression (Fig. 2) are studied. The plate is considered
as simply supported with the loaded edges (edges and nodal lines of the web-
plate) held straight and the unloaded edges attached to the flanges but free to
pull-in. This means that the torsional and in-plane bending stiffness of the
flanges is neglected which is reasonable provided the flange dimensions are

O"xL O'xL

%. i

Y
i
Fig. 2. Plate coordinatesystem and loading stress distribution.
I
% ='~ o",~t
 Tolerancesof initialdeflectionsof steel plates 225
small. According to the aforementioned results of ReL 10, assuming a current
level of residual stresses (10% of yield), the initial deflection may be investi-
gated separately.
The theoretical ultimate strength of the cross-section is defined by the onset
of membrane yielding in the plate. Since the maximum strength reduction is
to be studied the initial deflection Wo is defined as

W o = {~o]:q~l, ~ --> 0, (6)

where ~o is a parameter and q~l = qh(x,y) (a suitably normalised initial buckling

mode), is assumed. Following Refs 12 and 13, q~ is the most dangerous shape
for wo among all possible initial deflection distributions which satisfy the
boundary conditions and have the same level of the energy measure. We note
that the de,finition of wo involves an implicit choice of the aspect ratio a/b of
the plate.
The energy measure or in other words the energy norm II'll is given by
the bending strain energy U(w), which for a simply supported plate can be
written as

Et3 fb f i(Aw)2dxdy" (7)

U(w) - 24(1-~) o

Non-dimensionalising the functional U by the coefficient

CF- abtE& (8)

the energy norm becomes:

Ilwoll = ,f2cFU(wo), (9)

The choice of CF ensures that for the predominant - - single half-wave (over
a square domain) - - initial deflection, i.e. in the shape of the initial buckling
mode q~lc of the smallest compression buckling load, the energy norm and its
non-dimertsional amplitude can be set equal to ~o so that,

Ilwoll = = Iwol/t, for wo = 6otqh~. (10)

In order to simplify the study, we further normalise tq~1 of (6) by (9) (see
Table 1), thus setting the energy norm of any of wo (6) equal to 80
226 Z. Sadovsk~, I. BaldY,

TABLE 1
The NormalisedEigenvectorstq~l (18), IIt,pdl = 1

g~ alb k=, e~, e~2 e~s e~4 e~5 e116 I ,l

1 1 4 1 1
1/3 0.995 5.9633 0.991366 0-034018 0.000278 0.000202 0.000004 0.000012 0-99337
0 0.993 7.8098 0.969054 0-066286 0.001085 0-000401 0.000016 0.000023 0-97674
-1/3 0.942 10.977 0-894160 0.120441 0.003952 0.000780 0.000058 0.000044 0-92062
-2/3 0.823 16.424 0-679752 0.195131 0.014642 0-001709 0.000229 0-000088 0-76000
-1 2/3 23.882 0.414670 0-225904 0.038064 0-004414 0.000734 0.000188 0-55877
-3/2 0.534537.365 0.219298 0-196021 0.070828 0-014035 0.002526 0.000574 0.40015
-2 0-446 53.814 0.125547 0-145138 0-082383 0-027392 0.006623 0.001552 0.30543

Ilwoll = 80, for Wo = 8otqh. (11)

Now ,the amplitude 8ot of the single mode, which is normally specified in
tolerance standards, can be used as the parameter for the most dangerous Wo
shape (6) in calculations of the worst effect of initial deflections having 80
energy measure level.
Since tqh occurs only as a secondary part of the real imperfections, taking
his magnitude to the full level of the single mode by the energy measure
provides lower bounds to the actual strength reductions. On the other hand,
it is far less conservative than taking the buckling modes with the amplitude
of the single wave mode (compare the amplitudes of the normalised eigenvec-
tors in Table 1). Even assuming to refer the amplitudes of buckling modes to
the length of plate (distance of web-plate nodal lines), i.e. 8ot times a/b, we
would obtain more conservative results.
The same coefficient CF(8) is used to non-dimensionalise the potential
energy of the problem. The reduction factor

Or~xL
p = fy (12)

giving the theoretical ultimate strength O~xLof a cross-section is then defined

by a set of six parameters:

OIxL
qJ- O'xL' (13)

Af
af=-- (14)
bt
 Tolerances of initial deflections of steel plates 227

which define the stress distribution (see Fig. 2), flange size, slenderness para-
meters/3 (4) or ~ (5), imperfection level 8o (6), aspect ratio a/b and Poisson's
ratio v, respectively. In such a formulation, keeping the parameters constant,
the solution of the governing equations corresponding to the limit-state is
invariant, 1~u6 cf. also Ref. 17.

4 NUMERICAL SOLUTION METHOD

The governing F S p p l - ~ i n - M a r g u e r r e nonlinear equations of the problem

are solved by a variational method. 18 Considering a part of the web-plate
between two nodal lines (see Fig. 1), the initial wo and the overall w deflection
functions are expressed as

Wo = t~',Wo,~S,~(x,y), (15)
m#z

W = t~_'t W m n S r n n (xy)
, ,
m,n

where

mcrx ncry
s~(x,y) = sin - - sin - - (16)
a b

The compatibility equation is solved exactly for the Airy stress function. Then,
using the Bubnov-Galerkin method which, in this case, is equivalent to the
Rayleigh-Ritz method, the equilibrium equation may be solved approximately
for w,,~ coefficients. For an isolated plate (af = 0) the solution coincides with
that of C o l i n . 19
As an alternative approach the deflection functions are represented by trunc-
ated series

Wo = aot~o~ (17)

W = t~.i~i~o i

of eigenvo=tors

~o, = ~ ei~s,~(x,y) (18)

m,n
228 Z. Sadovstaj, I. BaldY,

normalised by the energy norm (9). So first, after choosing the trigonometric
base functions (16) for a set of (m,n) values, the linearized problem for the
eigenvalue coefficients ko~ = O'er.i/erE (the critical plate-buckling stress O'cr=
O'cr,l = k,~lO'E) and coefficients em~/of eigenvectors (18) are solved. Following
a choice of eigenvector base functions the unknown coefficients ¢i of w (17)
are found as solutions of nonlinear algebraic equations of the variational
method. Obviously, for an equal number of trigonometric and of eigenvector
base functions the same results, whether in the form (15) or (17), are obtained.
Otherwise, for a smaller set of eigenvectors, without significant loss of pre-
cision, a smaller number of algebraic equations may be solved, and computer
time saves can be gained.
The required precision of the limit-state solution depends on the purpose
for which the resulting reduction factors are used. Just to show the influence
of initial deflections on strength of a cross-section a smaller number of base
functions is needed than for calculations of Wo levels yielding an equal strength
reduction of a cross-section while subjected to different types of loading. The
well-known result 9 that doubling the initial deflection may yield up to 12%
decrease of the ultimate load accounts for this - - since, small errors in assess-
ments of the reduction factors to the same level imply much larger discrep-
ancies in the magnitudes of the imperfections.
Several reduction factor approximations for a plate and I cross-section sub-
jected to pure bending are shown in Table 2. The chosen values of parameters
are: @ = - - 1 ; a f = 0 and 0-25; Ap= 1; ~o=0.5555; alb=213 and v = 0 . 3 . For
mild steel Offy = 235 MPa and E = 210 GPa, Ap = 1 implies the critical slen-
derness (b/t)~r = 138"88 and ~o = 0"5555 corresponds, in the sense of (10), to
the tolerance given by the limiting ratio b/250. The values of p obtained for
six base functions are, from the practical point of view, sufficiently precise,
whereas for equi-strength calculations we take 10 base functions.
For compressive loading (~b = 1) five base functions (16) with the following
(re,n) pairs were employed: (1,1), (1,3), (1,5), (3,1), (3,3). The t9 values

TABLE 2
Convergence of Reduction Factors for Plate and I Cross-section in Pure Bending, qJ=-1;
~tp ~- 1; ~o = 0.5555; a/b = 2/3; v = 0 - 3

Coefficients w m Number o f base functions Reduction factors p

s,,Jpositive+negative ¢Pi aI = 0 af = 0.25

W11,12.13.14.15.16 613 + 3 0"78673 0"91608

WI1.12.13.14.15.16.31.32 8/4 + 4 0"78453 0"91449
W11,12,13,14.15,16,31,32,33,34 10/5 + 5 0"78413 0"91395
W11,12.13.14.15.16.31.32.33.34.51.52 12/5 + 5 0"78408 0"91391
 Tolerances of initial deflections of steel plates 229

TABLE 3
Reduction Factors for Plate and I Cross-sections in Uniform Compression, ~b= l; ~p = l;
8o = 0.2274; a/b = 1; v = 0.3

Coefficients w _ Reduction factors p

ai= 0 ai= 0.25 ai= 0.5 a:= 1

Wl 1,13,15,31,33 0.74484 0.85581 0.89510 0-93087

obtained for af= 0, 0.25, 0-5, 1.0; ~p = 1; 8o = 0.2274; a/b = 1 and v = 0.3 are
shown in Table 3. For the assumed values of material properties the values
of parameters imply the slenderness bit = (b/t)cr = 56.84 and the level of initial
distortion corresponding to the limiting ratio b/250.
The drop of ultimate strength of an initially deflected plate (cf. column
af = 0 of q['able 3) is found to be somewhat greater than that obtained by
Rangelov. 8 The reason for this is that for the four base functions assumed by
Rangelov for all loading cases only two of them, i.e. with (m,n) = (1,1) and
(1,3), are effective in the case of compression.

5 STRENGTH-BASED LIMITING OF IMPERFECTIONS

We suggest that the initial deflections of plates are limited to the magnitudes
which correspond to equal maximum strength reductions for any slenderness
parameter/3. The strength reduction is defined as due to initial deflections i.e.
it is referred to the strength of the corresponding ideally flat plate. The drop
in strength is adjusted to the 'basic' level obtained for pure compression at
the critical slenderness of the plate with the single mode initial deflection of
amplitude b/250 (for mild steel). The levels of initial distortions are determ-
ined by the energy measure as detailed in Section 3. Taking into account the
whole cross-section of a girder we proceed in the manner previously outlined
for each of the assumed values of the flange size parameter af.
The objective is reached in two steps.
Firstly, for a certain slenderness and energy measure level of the plate initial
deflection, the largest strength reduction due to wo is sought. Employing the
most severe initial deflection shapes (6), according to the theory in Refs 12
and 13, it is found for those combinations of uniform compression and pure
bending at which the slenderness of the plate acquires the critical value.
The situation is illustrated in Fig. 3 which shows the strength reduction
percentage for several combinations of compression and bending caused by
initial deflections with a constant energy measure value. In addition to the/3
scale the slenderness scale is also shown. Since b/t does not belong to the set
230 Z. Sadovsk~, I. BaldY.

bit (fy =235HPo,E=2106Pa)

56.84 94.2
5O 100 138.9150 173.7 200
|

of,O.5~
c- 0.Z5
-'-G
o

\ / /x I ./ "d,/
10
0
e-,
! / \\ / / ¥=-1
15 \ /
/ ~p =-I13
20

25 60 =0.2274I
Iv .0.3

30 I I i I I I
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
II
Fig. 3. Strength reductions of I cross-sections having a constant level of web-plate initial
deflection.

of invariant parameters of the limit-state solutions the scale obviously depends

on values offy and E, cf. (4). The critical slendernesses (b/t)c~ are marked on
the scale. Their values can be conveniently obtained from (5) eliminating bit

k,,lzr2 E]1/2
bit = Ap [12(1_v2)~ (19)

and setting ~tp = 1. The corresponding critical slenderness parameter iBcr fol-
lows from

[ k~l~r2 ]1/2
/3 = Xp . (20)

Some values of (b/t)cr and 18orare shown in Table 4 (for k,,l values see Table 1).
A similar picture to that shown in Fig. 3 (constant/to) is obtained for the
case of 80 depending linearly on the slenderness parameter. Assuming the
level of initial deflections given by the limiting ratio b/250 as appropriate to
the mild steel we obtain
 Tolerances of initial deflections of steel plates 231

TABLE 4
Critical Values of Plate Slendernessesbit (for fy = 235 MPa, E = 210 GPa) and/3

1 1/3 0 -1/3 -2/3 -1 -3/2 -2

(blt)= 56.84 69.40 79.42 94.16 115.2 138.9 173.7 208.5

/3= 1.901 2.322 2.657 3.150 3.853 4.646 5.811 6.974

bit /3 (21)
3o = Iwol/,- ./7
250 - ~ Jy

and

3o = 0.11196/3 forfy = 235 MPa and E = 210 GPa. (22)

Since, for bit > 56.84, 80 increases up to the value of 0.2274, the correspond-
ing strength reductions would lie somewhat deeper than on Fig. 3.
From the 30-/3 relationship of eqn (22) the magnitude of initial deflection
yielding the 'basic' strength reduction in invariant form, i.e. for different
material properties, is taken.
In the second step, computationally adjusting these maximum strength
reductions at different slendernesses to the assumed 'basic' value a functional
dependence of the level of initial deflection measure on the slenderness para-
meter (and flange size) is determined. Recalling Fig. 3 it means that the level
of initial distortion at any slenderness ratio greater than 56.84 is increased
until the corresponding peak reaches a common horizontal line given by the
compressive strength reduction (Table 3).
For convenience of displaying and processing the results, we introduce
the constant

100
ko = Ko' (23)

Generalising eqns (21) and (22) with Ko and then substituting ko for Ko from
(23) we obTtain

3o - Ko -" ko ~ = ko (24)

and
232 Z. Sadovsk~, I. Bald~

6o ko 0.2989/3.
= (25)

Setting ko = 0.4 the original eqns (21) and (22) are obtained.
The use of the ko instead of 8o scale reduces the presentation of the calcu-
lated initial deflection levels (Fig. 4) about one degree in exponent of/3. Thus,
a constant ko implies a linear 6o-/3 relationship whereas a linear approximation
of ko in/3 yields a quadratic equation for 60.
Three ko curves, obtained for af = 0, 0.25 and 0.5, are plotted in Fig. 4. The
suggested limiting ratio (3) of Rangelov, 8 transforms to the ko scale as

ko = 0.0984/3, /3 > 4 (26)

closely approaches the comparable case of an isolated plate (af = 0) for higher
slenderness ratios, not exhausting possibility of tolerance relaxation in the
medium range indicated by the af----0 curve.
A more significant relaxation of the limiting equation, for the slenderness
ratios bit > 56.84 can be gained when (see Fig. 4) the strength of the whole
cross-section of a girder is taken into account. Assuming af= 0.25 as the

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
I I I

1.5-

ko

1,0
/
Y Authors
[6o=0.06~z)

0.5 Rangelov[8]
0.4 I I
[6 p,/34)
0 50 69.¢79.4 100 115.2 1389150 173,7 208.5
56.84 9¢2 208
b/t (fy=235 HPo, E=210 GPo)
Fig. 4. Simplified presentation of calculated and suggested fabrication tolerances for plates.
 Tolerances of initial deflections of steel plates 233

smallest practically occurring flange size, our proposal is based on linear

approximation of this curve. We suggest the following conditions

80 -----0-12/3 for/3 <-- 2

8o<--0"06/32 for/3>2 (27)

which for mild steel can be adopted as

b/t
8o <- - - for bit <- 60
25131
(b/0 2
8o -< - - - - for bit > 60. (28)
151300

The 8o curves given by the limiting ratio b/250 and eqn (3) of Rangelov 8
and suggested eqn (2"7) are shown in Fig. 5.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
3 I I I I I I

6 Authors

6o ,

= . . = b/t

, I
0 50 60 100 120 150 200
b/t(fy=Z35HPo, E =Z10GPo)
Fig. 5. Comparison of current and suggested fabrication tolerances for plates.
234 Z. Sadovs~, L BaldY.

6 DISCUSSION

The theory 12'13 relates together branches of nonlinear solutions of initially flat
plates with initial deflection shapes and perturbed equilibrium states by energy.
The initial shape of the branch which, following the minimum of potential
energy, actually occurs, coincides in shape with the initial deflection, intro-
duced as the most dangerous one, to which there correspond equilibrium states
possessing the extremal property and the largest strain energy values among
all possible imperfections having an energy measure level. Numerical studies
show that the lowest potential energy values are closely followed by the largest
magnitudes of the characteristic stresses (e.g. the maximum membrane stress
intensity, the mean normal stress along the unloaded edge). Thus, near the
critical and in subcritical load ranges, the small equilibrium states of unflat
plate having the most dangerous initial deflection shape have the lowest poten-
tial energy and the worst or almost worst characteristic stress values.
Advancing into the post-buckling range the minimum of potential energy
need not stay on the branch emerging at the critical buckling load and conse-
quently imperfections of other than the initial buckling shape become
important. As an example we assume a long simply supported plate uniformly
compressed in the longitudinal direction having a number of higher buckling
loads situated near the critical buckling load. The numerical solutions 13 show
that the higher the load the smaller the aspect ratio of the branch at which
the minimum of the potential energy is attained. Fortunately, this is not a core
problem of our study since the peaks of maximum strength reduction corre-
spond to subcritical limit states and thereby, following the theory, for each
loading case a unique aspect ratio corresponding to the critical (i.e. lowest)
buckling load is given (see Table 1).
On the other hand, dismissing the view of potential energy in favour of
characteristic stresses, a calculation of the proper aspect ratio becomes
unavoidable. Because of the mentioned small inconsistencies between these
viewpoints a slightly smaller value of the reduction factor, p = 0.73396 at
a/b= 1.34, of a plate in compression than that one given in Table 3
(p = 0.74484; a/b = 1) is obtained. The decrease is also partly due to a higher
level of imperfections given by the limiting ratio b/250 at the critical slender-
ness 59.29 corresponding to alb = 1.34. For the plate, equating the reduction
of, for example, the bending strength to the new level yields ko values higher
than those shown in Fig. 4. For an I cross-section with af = 0-25, this procedure
leads, at a/b = 1, to the value ko = 0.983 [(bit), = 147-98] which is somewhat
smaller even than the suggested ko line [ko = 0-994 (eqn 27); ko = 0-987 (eqn
(28)]. Since, (i) the differences are practically unimportant and, moreover
(ii) the strength reduction due to the predominant initial deflection shape is
markedly smaller than that calculated with the initial buckling shape and
 Tolerances of initial deflections of steel plates 235

(iii) the ex:istence of equilibrium states of non-minimum potential energy lev-

els is questionable, we conclude that the applied energy approach can be
regarded a~ yielding lower bound estimates of tolerances.
Assessment of plate tolerances by strength considerations left us sufficiently
free to choose a convenient non-dimensional form for the energy measure
apart from physical interpretations. The only limitation is the reference of the
energy me,'tsure to the unit length owing to investigations of the parts of the
girder defined by two neighbouring nodal lines. This may not be the case if
the fabrication point of view is pursued. Having in mind the interpretation of
the energy measure of initial deflections by the work of transverse forces
necessary ~to distort the initially flat plate into the imperfect shape and
assuming the (energy) level of plate distortion as approximately proportionate
to its volurae, i.e. a constant per unit volume, a quadratic dependence of the
tolerances upon the slenderness is obtained. 17

7 CONCLUSIONS

Considering an unstiffened welded thin plate girder of I cross-section com-

posed of flange-plates and a web-plate of Class 3 and Class 4 (Eurocode
3~4), respectively, a theoretical strength-based assessment of the web-plate
tolerances has been performed. The suggested formulae (27) and (28) are
derived following the idea that the strength reduction of the I cross-section
due to initial deflection should not exceed, irrespective of the web-plate slen-
derness and type of loading, the maximum strength reduction obtained for the
case of uniform compression. In other words, with respect to the degrading
influence o:Finitial deflections the condition guarantees a possible exploitation
of any I cross-section to a certain percentage of the first yield strength of the
cross-section having an ideally flat web-plate.
The role of the energy measure can be appreciated in comparison with the
amplitude customarily employed for measuring plate distortions. Relating the
levels of single mode imperfection adopted for specifying the tolerances and
the initial buckling shape used in calculations of strength to the amplitude
instead of the energy measure would yield larger strength reductions implying
a more stringent assessment of tolerances.
The results presented may be welcomed by fabricators, since the suggested
relaxation of tolerances is significant and starts at medium slenderness ratios.
Re-writing the right-hand side of the second condition of (28) to

b/t b/t
250 60 (29)
236 Z. Sadovsk~, I. Bald~

and comparing it with (2) it can be concluded that (for mild steel) for bit > 60
the limiting ratio b/250 is increased by a factor b/tl60 and for bit >- 120 the
suggested tolerances are two times those of Rangelov. 8
Possible further relaxation of the tolerances is anticipated, e.g. undertaking
probabilistic analyses of equal m a x i m u m strength reductions and initial
deflection measurements for a certain production line.
The question of adjusting the current strength formulae to higher levels of
imperfection has not been studied in the present paper.

REFERENCES

1. Inquiry into the Basis of Design and Erection of Steel Box Girder Bridges. Report
of the Committee, Appendix 1, HMSO, London, 1973.
2. Massonnet, Ch., Tolerances in Steel Plated Structures. IABSE Task Group, Draft
Report, Liege, 1980 (Final Version, IABSE Surveys S-14/80, IABSE Periodica
3/1980, pp. 49-76).
3. Carlsen, C. A. & Czujko, J., The specification of post-welding distortion toler-
ances for stiffened plates in compression. Struct. Engr, 56A (1978) 133-141.
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ftir Stahlbau, Stahlbau Verlags, K61n, 1978.
5. ONORM B4600 Teil 7, Stahlbau. Ausfiihrung der Stahltragwerke. Osterreich-
isches Normungsinstitut, Wien, 1972.
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ftir Normung, Beuth Verlag, Berlin, 1990.
7. CSN 73 2611, Tolerances of Steel Structures (in Czech). UNM, Prague, 1981.
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Steel Plates. Stahlbau, 61 (1992) 151-156.
9. Dowling, P. J., Frieze, P. A. & Harding, J. E., Imperfection Sensitivity of Steel
Plates under Complex Edge Loading. Preliminary Report, ECCS, Li6ge, 1977,
pp. 305-314.
10. Dowling, P. J. & Frieze, P. A., Residual stresses in welded steel box girder
flanges. Int. Conf. on Residual Stresses in Welded Construction and Their Effects.
The Welding Institute, Cambridge, 1978, pp. 307-314.
11. Hlavfi~ek, I., Einfluss der Form der Anfangskl~mmung auf das Ausbeulen der
gedrtickten rechtecklgen Platte. Acta Technica CSAV, 7 (1962) 174-206.
12. Sadovsk3~, Z., A theoretical approach to the problem of the most dangerous initial
deflection shape in stability type structural problems. Aplikace Matematiky, 23
(1978) 248-266.
13. Sadovsk~, Z., Initial deflection shape factor in perturbed plate buckling. In Trends
in Appl. of Pure Mathematics to Mechanics Vol. IV Pitman, London, ed. J. Brilla.
1983, pp. 228-248.
14. ENV 1993-1-1, 1992 Design of Steel Structures. Part 1-1 General Rules and
Rules for Buildings. European Committee for Standardization, Brussels, 1992.
15. Broude, B. M., On the postbuclding behaviour of thin webplates of steel columns
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16. Little, G. H., The collapse of rectangular steel plates under uniaxial compression.
Struct. Engr, 58B (1980) 45-61.
 Tolerances of initial deflections of steel plates 237

17. Sadovsk~, Z., Influence of initial deflections on postbuckling behaviour

and strength of thin steel plates in compression. Acta Technica CSAV, 24 (1979)
587-609.
18. Sadovsk3~, Z., The problem of long elastic thin plate panel of asymmetrical I
cross-section in pure bending. Acta Technica CSAV, 23 (1978) 576-592.
19. Coan, J., Large deflection theory for plates with small initial curvature loaded in
edge compression. J. AppL Mech., 18 (1951) 143-151.
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APPENDIX

Generalisation of the suggested formulae for tolerances 2°

The formulae (27) and (28) relax the tolerance b/250. Since several standards
admit larger limiting ratios, e.g. BS 5950 P2, 21 SDFESSB SSCJAI Japan, 22
AS 4100, :'3 SIA 16124 and pr EN 1090-125 and use b/Ko with Ko = 150, a
generalisa'tion of (27) and (28) to Ko values less than 250 appears meaningful.
Conside,ring the right-hand side of the second condition (28) re-written in
the form (29), an immediate solution for mild steel offers a replacement of
the number 250 by Ko in both of the conditions (27) yielding

/)It
80 <-- --- for b/t <-- 60
K,
bit bit
6o--<----- forb/t>60. (A1)
K,, 60

The corresponding invariant forms are:

for 2
238 Z. Sadovsk~, L Bald~

15 2
60 <-- ~oo~ for/3 > 2. (A2)

The suitability of the generalised formulae (A1) and (A2) has been verified
for the case Ko = 150. The curve for the theoretical levels of imperfection
corresponding to equal maximum strength reductions lies, for the ratio of
flange-to-web-plate area af = 0.25, substantially above the curve representing
the values of (A1) and (A2) (see figure 2 of Ref. 20). Thus, the formulae (A1)
and (A2) may be used for the practical range of Ko values.