Ain Shams Engineering Journal xxx (2016) xxx–xxx

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Ain Shams Engineering Journal

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Experimental and FE analysis of stiffened steel I-column with slender

sections
Suzan A.A. Mustafa ⇑, Osama M. Elhussieny, Ehab B. Matar, Ahmed G. Alaaser
Structural Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper presents an experimental and a FE analysis of the compressive behavior of slender section col-
Received 17 July 2016 umns with and without stiffeners. A series of tests was performed on specimens with different overall
Revised 18 November 2016 heights and different number of stiffeners. A nonlinear three-dimensional FE model was developed using
Accepted 4 December 2016
ANSYS program. The efficiency of the nonlinear FE model was verified and a parametric analysis was per-
Available online xxxx
formed considering variation of number of stiffeners, values of web depth-to-thickness ratio, flange-to-
thickness ratio, and slenderness ratio. The load carrying capacity of steel columns with large web-to-
Keywords:
thickness ratio is noticeably enhanced up to 34% by increasing number of web stiffeners. Initial imperfec-
Slender sections
Local buckling
tion during fabrication should be well controlled and should be carefully considered in the FE modelling.
Stiffened I-column Post local buckling strength of the sections is more sensitive to web width–thickness ratio than flange
Web stiffener width–thickness ratio.
FE simulation Ó 2016 Ain Shams University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under
ANSYS the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction plates when compared to a non-dimensional basis, Rasmussen

In recent years, challenging steel structures are required to
withstand the needs of economic and uncommon constructions.
Therefore, a proper understanding of the structural behavior of
those structures is a must. Many researchers investigated the
behavior of slender and stub steel columns. Compression tests of
49 columns of square box, rectangular box and cruciform sections
were performed and revealed that the difference between the
resistances of an as-welded specimen compared to a stress relieved
specimen could be in the order of 10–15% Dwight et al. [1]. This
study considered a wide range of width to thickness ratios. Resid-
ual stresses caused by welding may reduce the strength of fabri-
cated members in relation to the size of the welds, Dwight and
Moxham [2]. The load-deformation curve for a web containing
residual stresses is less peaky than that for a stress free web.
Results from more than 1000 plates with inherent residual stresses
were collected, Fukumoto and Itoh [3]. No clear difference between
the plate strengths determined through single plate tests and
square boxes could be pointed out. The strength of slender welded
high strength steel plates exceeded that of welded ordinary steel
Peer review under responsibility of Ain Shams University.
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: samustafa@eng.zu.edu.eg, suzanaa1@hotmail.com (S.A.A.
Mustafa), bect@tedata.net.eg (O.M. Elhussieny), e.matar@zu.edu.eg (E.B. Matar),
ad_alaasar_86@yahoo.com (A.G. Alaaser).
and Hancock [4]. Buckling tests on six stub columns type with a
box shaped cross section made of high strength steel were per-
formed to investigate the buckling behavior of newly developed
steel, Moller and Johansson [5]. The yield stresses of the used
grades were 1130 and 1349 MPa. The conclusions drawn were
mainly concerning how the two different grades would be classi-
fied or used. The post local buckling strength of the sections is
more sensitive to web width–thickness ratio than flange width–
thickness ratio, Salem et al. [6]. As the web width–thickness ratio
increases the possibility of flange–web interaction local buckling
decreases. Also, flange width – thickness ratio has a remarkable
effect on reducing the columns ultimate loads for sections with
low web width–thickness ratios. Wathaf [7] and Hunaiti conducted
an experimental study on the post-buckling strength square and
rectangular steel hollow sections with width-thickness ratios
greater than those in common rolled sections. They proposed
two empirical compact equations for the effective section to pre-
dict the post buckling strength. A series of compression tests on
welded H-section and channel section columns were conducted,
Kwon et al. [8]. The tests indicated that the interaction between
local and overall buckling had a significant negative effect on the
ultimate strength of the thin-walled welded steel section columns
by using The Direct Strength Method (DSM), and proved that this
method can properly predict the ultimate strength of welded sec-
tion columns when local buckling and flexural buckling occur
simultaneously or nearly simultaneously. Experimental and

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2016.12.001
2090-4479/Ó 2016 Ain Shams University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Please cite this article in press as: Mustafa SAA et al. Experimental and FE analysis of stiffened steel I-column with slender sections. Ain Shams Eng J (2016),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2016.12.001
2 S.A.A. Mustafa et al. / Ain Shams Engineering Journal xxx (2016) xxx–xxx

Table 1
Dimensions of experimental specimen.

Specimen No. of stiffeners L (mm) L/r bf (mm) tf (mm) hw (mm) tw (mm) hw bf Pu (kN)
tw 2t f

C-0-1-A 0 1660 62.5 155 3.8 570 3.8 150 20.4 505
C-0-1-B 0 1660 62.5 155 3.8 570 3.8 150 20.4 560
C-0-2 0 2700 100 155 3.8 570 3.8 150 20.4 362
C-1-2 2 2700 100 155 3.8 570 3.8 150 20.4 409
C-2-2 4 2700 100 155 3.8 570 3.8 150 20.4 457

Thickness of all stiffeners is 8.2 mm.

bf: flange width, tf: flange thickness, hw: web height, tw: web thickness, r: radius of gyration.

Figure 1. Sketch of experimental specimens.

Figure 3. Stress strain relation for used steel.

Figure 2. Column setup and measurement channels.

numerical investigations were carried out by Degee et al. [9] con-
cluding that model with local imperfection of 1/250 of the cross-
sectional width and a global imperfection of 1/725 of the overall
length produces results in good agreement with those obtained
from a model including residual stresses. A research on I-beam,
I-column and I-beam-column specimens was presented by Ham
[10], and concluded that there is only interaction between the local
and the global behavior if they have the same number of half-
waves in the length of the column. The nonlinear behavior of slen-
der webs in I-columns having stocky flanges under the action of
combined lateral and axial loads was studied Alinia and Dibaie
[11]. Interaction curves corresponding to the application of com-
pressive and shear loads at buckling and ultimate stages for both
web plates and column sections were plotted. They reported that
the effect of compressive loads on decreasing shear buckling and
ultimate capacities of slender web plates is more than the effect
of shear on the relative axial capacities considering the effects of
flange and web slenderness ratios on the behavior of columns.
Six H-section steel beam–columns with large width-to-thickness
ratios subjected to combined constant axial force and cyclic bend-
ing moment about the strong-axis were performed, Cheng et al.
[12]. Different categories of cross-sections, various width-to-
thickness ratios of the flange and web of the specimens were
considered. It was found that local buckling was the dominating
failure mode and the specimens exhibited limited resisting
strength but certain plastic deformation capacity as well as energy

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Table 2
Comparison of proposed model (using ANSYS) with experimental and F.E. presented by [6].

Specimen name Column height (mm) Ultimate load (KN) PFE/PEXP

PEXP PFE
COSMOS ANSYS COSMOS ANSYS
L1-15-80 1000 746.4 692.4 678.7 1.08 1.1
L1-15-120 1000 721.2 675 689.8 1.07 1.05
L2-24-80 2000 782.6 732.4 753.8 1.07 1.04
L2-24-120 2000 720.8 748.6 750.4 0.96 0.96
L2-14-80 2000 617.7 582.9 622.3 1.06 0.99

dissipation capacity. The behavior of fixed- fixed steel wide flanged

beam-columns under a combined axial and monotonic lateral
loading scheme was investigated, Fogarty and El-Tawil [13]. It
was found that local buckling and lateral torsional buckling
reduced the column strength significantly at lateral drift levels
below 4%. A finite element analysis of stiffened slender built up
steel columns was carried out by El Dib et al. [16].

Figure 4. (a) Lateral displacement at web (proposed model and experimental of

Salem et al. [6]. (b) Lateral displacement at flange tip (Proposed model and
experimental of Salim et al. [6]).

Figure 6. (a) Load-lateral web displacement at mid-height (Experimental speci-

Figure 5. Relation between failure load and t stiffener/t web (hw/tw = 150, bf/ mens). (b) Load-lateral flange displacement at mid-height - tip 4. Specimen (C-0-1-
2tf = 10, L/r = 50). A). (c) Load-lateral web displacement at mid-height –point 7. Specimen (C-0-1-A).

Please cite this article in press as: Mustafa SAA et al. Experimental and FE analysis of stiffened steel I-column with slender sections. Ain Shams Eng J (2016),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2016.12.001
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The primary objective of this study is to investigate the behav-

ior and the load carrying capacity of slender section steel columns.
The investigation was carried out in multi-stages. The first stage
was executed experimentally by testing five specimens with differ-
ent overall lengths and different number of stiffeners. The second
stage was executed through a finite element model using ANSYS
program; Release 13.0, APDL solver [14]. Both geometric and mate-
rial nonlinearity has been considered. The results obtained from
the finite element analysis were verified against the performed
experimental work and those obtained by Salem et al. [6]. Para-
metric study was then extended to investigate the effect of the
existence of transverse stiffeners and the variations of flange,
web slenderness and column slenderness.

2. Experimental program

2.1. Tested specimens and material properties

The objective of the present experimental program is to inves-

tigate the behavior of slender steel I-columns with and without
intermediate stiffeners subjected to axial compressive loads. A
total of five steel columns; with steel grade 52; were tested. The

Figure 8. (a) Failure shape of specimen (C-0-1-A). (b) Failure shape of specimen (C-
0-1-B).

columns were made from plates with nominal thickness of

3.8 mm. The plates were welded together to form I sections in a
process so as to prevent bending of the plates during the process.
Two specimens represented stub column with length 1660 mm
with no stiffeners, and three specimens representing semi-long
columns with length 2700. The first semi-long column had no stiff-
eners, the second had two stiffeners, and the third column had four
stiffeners welded to the steel I-column. The dimensions and stiff-
eners distribution of the tested specimens are given in details in
Table 1 and shown in Fig. 1, where L is the length of the column,
and S is the distance between stiffeners. Tensile tests were per-
formed on coupons extracted from the same plate used for the fab-
rication of the test specimens. The average yield and the ultimate
strength of all tested specimens were 403 MPa and 506 MPa,
respectively.

2.2. Test setup and instrumentation

Figure 7. (a) Load- lateral displacement at specimen mid-height - tip 4. Specimen
(C-0-1-B). (b) Load-lateral displacement at specimen mid-height -point 7. Specimen
(C-0-1-B). (c) Load-strain at specimen mid-height for flange-web junctions 2&5. The specimens were supported between two bearing heads at
Specimen (C-0-1-B). both ends. The applied load and boundary conditions were

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Figure 9. (a) Load-strain at mid-height - tip 3. specimen (C-0-2). (b) Load-lateral
displacement-point 7, specimen (C-0-2).
designed in such a way that the specimen was loaded by axial
compressive load. A 2000 kN universal testing machine was used
to apply compressive axial force to the column specimens. Dis-
placements and strains were monitored during tests at eight posi-
tions using four linear variable displacement transducers (LVDT)
and 7 strain gauges for each specimen. Three LVDTs were used to
measure the transverse displacement and a fourth LVDT was set
to measure the axial shortening of the steel column. Electric data
logger was used to capture all readings from strain gauges, LVDTs
and the load cell. The loading setup and the position of strain and
LVDTs are illustrated in Fig. 2.
Figure 10. Failure shape of specimen (C-0-2).
Please cite this article in press as: Mustafa SAA et al. Experimental and FE analysis of stiffened steel I-column with slender sections. Ain Shams Eng J (2016),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2016.12.001
5
3. Finite element model
The finite element modelling is a powerful tool that would be
an alternative for the experimental tests which are both time
and labour consuming. It is considered a powerful tool in analysis
and design of slender steel sections once the model is verified with
experimental work. The commercial finite element package ANSYS
has been used for simulating the hinged-hinged supported steel
slender plate columns. This software has proven its reliability in
many benchmark studies and was considered suitable for the cur-
rent task.
The finite element model was developed using quadrilateral
element (shell 181) which gives more accuracy in buckling prob-
lems, whilst solid element (solid 185) was considered for mod-
elling loading plates. The chosen elements followed the exact
nominal geometrical dimensions of the tested specimens. The
mesh density was chosen so that the elements aspect ratio is
nearly equal to one. This provided adequate accuracy and fair com-
putational time in modelling the steel columns. The existence of
loading plates prevented the non-convergence error that may
occur during the analysis. Both material and geometric non-
linearities were considered in the model. The steel elastic modulus
was taken 2E5 MPa and Poisson’s ratio was assumed 0.3. The stress
strain plateau is shown in Fig. 3. In all plastic cases, the von-Mises
yield criterion was used. When strain hardening is present, kine-
matic hardening was considered. The ends of the steel columns
were restrained from displacing in the two directions transverse
to the loading direction (X and Z directions); as shown in Fig. 1.
Thin plates have uniform temperature in the cross-section produc-
ing small amount of residual stresses. So, single geometric imper-
fection was utilized to replace the real geometric imperfection and
the residual stresses. The value of imperfection was taken 0.1 of
thickness of web as sine wave shape, Davids and Hancock [15].
The first mode of buckling which is produced during buckling anal-
ysis in ANSYS program was considered.
3.1. Model verification
A comparison with the experimental work detailed above in
addition to some previous experimental published results was held
to calibrate the accuracy of the model. Salem et al. [6] tested
6 S.A.A. Mustafa et al. / Ain Shams Engineering Journal xxx (2016) xxx–xxx
experimentally thirteen columns without transverse stiffeners
through column height. Five axially loaded columns with heights
1000 mm and 2000 mm; as detailed in Table 2; were simulated.
The columns slenderness were 35, 40, 39, 43, 77, while the flange
slenderness of these columns were 15, 15, 24, 24, 14 and the web
slenderness were 80, 12, 80, 120, 80 respectively. They presented a
finite element model for the tested columns as well using COSMOS
program. Herein the specimens were simulated by the suggested
finite element model using ANSYS program in which the axial load
is applied centric so, no lateral displacement is produced until the
web starts to buckle. This produced the difference between the
finite element and the experimental results in the low lateral dis-
placement range. Thereafter, until the ultimate load, the results
showed very good agreement with the experimental data; as illus-
trated in Table 2 and Fig. 4. Sensitivity analysis was carried out on
specimens with four stiffeners to investigate the effect of the thick-
ness of stiffeners. This analysis was conducted on specimens with
hw/tw = 150 in which the stiffeners had a significant effect on the
column behavior. In case of absence of stiffeners or when the stiff-
eners were not stiff enough, the web buckling governed the col-
umn behavior. The thickness of the intermediate stiffeners was
initially considered equals the web thickness and increased up to
three times the web thickness. The load carrying capacity of the
modelled column increased with the increase of the thickness of
the stiffener in a significant way until twice the web thickness.
The rate of increase of the load decreases with the increase of stiff-
ener’s thickness more than twice the web thickness; as shown in
Fig. 5.
4. Experimental results and comparison with the finite element
model
4.1. Stub column
All the experimental specimens were simulated using the pro-
posed finite element model with the same material properties
and loading techniques. Fig. 6(a) shows the load-lateral displace-
ment curves of all experimental tested specimens. Two specimens
Figure 11. Failure shape of specimen (C-1-2).
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(C-0-1-A) and (C-0-1-B) represented stub columns with no inter-
mediate stiffeners were analysed. At the early stage of loading,
the finite element model shows no lateral displacement until the
steel column starts to buckle, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. In speci-
men (C-0-1-A), the F.E.M. results showed variable values of defor-
mation in the web than the experimental one; as in Fig. 6(c). This
was referred to the deformation in the upper loading plate that
forced the test specimen to buckle at the top third of the specimen,
as shown in Fig. 8(a). This was avoided in specimen (C-0-1-B) by
using a stiffer loading plate, so as not to induce major deformations
during testing. This specimen failed due to buckling at mid-height
of the column. During the subsequent loading steps, the web defor-
mation of specimen (C-0-1-B), the failure load and the strain values
were nearly the same in the experimental and the F.E. results, as
shown in Fig. 7.
4.2. Semi-long column
Good agreement between the results of the finite element
model and the experimental specimens in case of semi-long
columns (with L/r = 100) as well. The failure load of specimen (C-
0-2) was about 362 kN while it was about 368 kN in the finite ele-
ment simulation, with only 1.5% difference. At mid-height of the
column, the displacement and the strain of the experimental spec-
imen at failure were higher than those of the finite element model,
Fig. 9. This is because readings of the experimental specimens were
recorded after the steel had been already yielded. Global buckling
associated with flange local buckling were observed at failure as
shown in Fig. 10. Local bucking started in flanges when the applied
load reached 278 kN, which represent almost 77% of failure load.
Global buckling about minor axis at the upper third of specimen
(C-1-2) was observed at failure, as shown in Fig. 11(a). This was
attributed to the large imperfection existed at this position during
fabrication which accelerates local buckling of flange that resulted
quickly in localizing global buckling at the upper third. The
capacity of this specimen increased about 14% than its similar
unstiffened column. Two F.E. Models were developed for this spec-
imen. The first model, (C-1-2-I), simulated the tested specimen
 S.A.A. Mustafa et al. / Ain Shams Engineering Journal xxx (2016) xxx–xxx 7

with the local imperfection at the top third of the column. The
other model (C-1-2-II) was presented without these imperfections.
The behavior and results of model (C-1-2-I) was exactly similar to
that of the experimental specimen, as shown in Figs. 11b and 12.
The strain has very low values in the experimental specimen since
strain gauges were at mid height of column while the maximum
deformation was at the upper third. Similar behavior was noticed
in the finite element model (C-1-2-I), while model (C-1-2-II) pro-
duced noticeable large deformations at mid-height as expected,
and illustrated in Figs. 11 and 12.
Specimen (C-2-2) had four stiffeners distributed at equal dis-
tances throughout the column height. The axial displacement of
the column, strains, lateral displacements at mid height of the col-
umn web and deformed shape are shown in Fig. 13. It was noticed
that the existence of the intermediate stiffeners prevented the
local buckling in both of web and flanges. In addition, 17% increase
in the load carrying capacity of the column was noticed in the
experimental test. Almost the same increase percentage was
noticed in the finite element simulation.

5. Parametric study

It is clear that the Finite Element model can accurately predict

the behavior of the studied steel columns. Hence, a parametric
study was carried out to explore the effect of cross-section dimen-
sions and the existence of stiffeners on the behavior of the slender
steel built up I-section. Some of the studied columns were pro-
vided with two, four or six transverse stiffeners along the column
height. Typical models of the finite element mesh for the studied
models are shown in Fig. 14. A total of 112 model specimens were
performed in the parametric study. The columns were labelled
such that the first number identified the ratio between the web
height and web thickness hw/tw (ranged between 40 and 150).
The second number identified the ratio between the flange width
to twice the flange thickness bf/2tf (ranged between 10 and 25).
Letter A or B identified the buckling length of the studied columns;
i.e. ‘‘A” for L/r = 50 and ‘‘B” for L/r = 100. The parameters and their
range of variation are listed in Table 3.
Relation between load and web depth to thickness ratio for
specimens with L/r = 50 is shown in Fig. 15. Increasing the value
of hw/tw decreased the column capacity in a noticeable way. Inter-
action between local and global buckling was noticed in specimens
with hw/tw equals 110. A higher value of hw/tw decreased the col-
Figure 12. (a) Load-axial displacement, (C-1-2). (b) Load-strain at flange tip-4 at
umn capacity and the failure was due to global buckling. Providing
mid-height - specimen (C-1-2). (c) Load-strain at point-7 at mid-height - specimen
the specimens with stiffeners enhanced the column behavior and (C-1-2).
increased the failure load for specimens with hw/tw = 150 by about
34% in specimen with small value of bf/2tf (equals 10). This is
because for low values of bf/2tf and high hw/tw failure is attributed
to local buckling. Upon occurrence of local buckling, stress redistri- was mainly due to global buckling. While increasing bf/2tf lead to
bution towards the supported edges were developed as well as adverse interaction between local and global buckling which
developing transverse tensile membrane stresses after buckling decreased the ultimate strength of the studied columns by about
which provide post-buckling reserve. The column behavior was 48%. Providing stiffeners to the specimen enhanced the column
greatly enhanced with the provision of stiffeners. On the other capacity especially at high values of hw/tw, meanwhile, it had a
hand, increasing the values of the bf/2tf was not affected by the negligible effect on specimens with hw/tw 6 70, as shown in
existence of stiffeners in the same way, as shown in Fig. 16. Fig. 17(a). It is noteworthy that in columns with bf/tf equals 10,
Despite the existence of the intermediate stiffeners along col- increasing the value of hw/tw to 70 increased the failure load in
umn height, the increase in column capacity for relative small the specimens as shown in Fig. 17(a). However, when increasing
hw/tw (670) was minor and did not exceed 10%, as shown in the ratio to 110, 150, local buckling started which caused reduction
Fig. 16. This is attributed to negligible contribution of stiffener to in the ultimate load. In other cases, buckling in the web started
compact web in resisting local buckling. Fig. 16 was plotted since the value of hw/tw is 70, which caused continuous decrease
between failure load ratio to number of stiffeners (for specimens in the ultimate load. The column behavior was noticed almost
with L/r = 50) where PFE is the column failure load and P0 is the fail- the same in specimens with hw/tw between 100 and 150. Supplying
ure load of the column without stiffeners. the column with stiffeners with increasing hw/tw increased the
In specimens with L/r = 100, increasing the value of hw/tw ultimate load of the beam in low flange-thickness ratio. However
decreased the column capacity when bf/2tf = 10, since the failure this increase is decreased with the increase of bf/2tf. This was

Please cite this article in press as: Mustafa SAA et al. Experimental and FE analysis of stiffened steel I-column with slender sections. Ain Shams Eng J (2016),
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Figure 13. (a) Load-axial displacement - specimen (C-2-2). (b) Load-strain - point 5 at mid-height specimen(C-2-2). (c) Load-lateral displacement at point 7 at mid-height
Specimen (C-2-2). (d) Failure shape of specimen (C-2-2).

attributed to negligible contribution of stiffeners in decreasing the

local buckling of large flange width/thickness ratio, as local buck-
ling usually occur inbetween stiffeners in association with global
buckling.

6. Summary and conclusion

Both experimental and finite element study of the behavior and

load carrying capacity of slender section steel columns have been
depicted in the present research. Five experimental specimens
with overall lengths ranging between 1660 and 2700 mm, includ-
ing two stiffened specimens were tested. A finite element model
was presented using ANSYS program. The model was verified by
comparing the F.E.M. results with the experimental tests in addi-
tion to previously published experimental tests. A parametric
study of 112 finite element models was utilized to explore the
effect of existence of transverse stiffeners and varying the values
of hw/tw, bf/2tf, and L/r. Based on the results presented within the
article, it can be concluded:

 Increasing thickness of stiffeners leads to an increase in the fail-

ure load of the specimens up to twice the thickness of web plate
then there is no remarkable benefits gained.
 Local buckling was the controlling failure mode of columns with
large flange width-thickness ratio.
 Increasing web depth-to-thickness ratio hw/tw or increasing
flange-to-thickness ratio bf/2tf decrease failure load of column
due to local buckling. Existing of transverse web stiffeners and
its number has very small effect on specimen with large out-
stand flange width bf/2tf. Figure 14. Typical shapes of studied columns.

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Table 3
Dimensions of studied Columns.

Specimen L/r L (mm) bf (mm) tf (mm) hw (mm) tw (mm) bf/2tf hw/tw (NoS) No. of stiffeners No. of model specimens
C-40-10-A 50 2619 196 9.8 160 4 10 40 0,2,4 3
C-70-10-A 50 2302 184 9.2 280 4 10 70 0,2,4 3
C-110-10-A 50 1872 166 8.3 440 4 10 110 0,2,4 3
C-150-10-A 50 1433 145 7.3 600 4 10 150 0,2,4 3
C-40-15-A 50 3222 241 8 160 4 15 40 0,2,4 3
C-70-15-A 50 2814 225 7.5 280 4 15 70 0,2,4 3
C-110-15-A 50 2290 203 6.8 440 4 15 110 0,2,4 3
C-150-15-A 50 1743 177 5.9 600 4 15 150 0,2,4 3
C-40-20-A 50 3719 278 7 160 4 20 40 0,2,4 3
C-70-20-A 50 3253 260 6.5 280 4 20 70 0,2,4 3
C-110-20-A 50 2640 234 5.9 440 4 20 110 0,2,4 3
C-150-20-A 50 2019 205 5.1 600 4 20 150 0,2,4 3
C-40-25-A 50 3946 311 6.2 160 4 25 40 0,2,4 3
C-70-25-A 50 3640 291 5.8 280 4 25 70 0,2,4 3
C-110-25-A 50 2948 262 5.2 440 4 25 110 0,2,4 3
C-150-25-A 50 2260 229 4.6 600 4 25 150 0,2,4 3
C-40-10-B 100 5239 196 9.8 160 4 10 40 0,2,4,6 4
C-70-10-B 100 4605 184 9.2 280 4 10 70 0,2,4,6 4
C-110-10-B 100 3744 166 8.3 440 4 10 110 0,2,4,6 4
C-150-10-B 100 2867 145 7.3 600 4 10 150 0,2,4,6 4
C-40-15-B 100 6443 241 8 160 4 15 40 0,2,4,6 4
C-70-15-B 100 5628 225 7.5 280 4 15 70 0,2,4,6 4
C-110-15-B 100 4580 203 6.8 440 4 15 110 0,2,4,6 4
C-150-15-B 100 3486 177 5.9 600 4 15 150 0,2,4,6 4
C-40-20-B 100 7437 278 7 160 4 20 40 0,2,4,6 4
C-70-20-B 100 6505 260 6.5 280 4 20 70 0,2,4,6 4
C-110-20-B 100 5279 234 5.9 440 4 20 110 0,2,4,6 4
C-150-20-B 100 4039 205 5.1 600 4 20 150 0,2,4,6 4
C-40-25-B 100 7892 311 6.2 160 4 25 40 0,2,4,6 4
C-70-25-B 100 7279 291 5.8 280 4 25 70 0,2,4,6 4
C-110-25-B 100 5896 262 5.2 440 4 25 110 0,2,4,6 4
C-150-25-B 100 4521 229 4.6 600 4 25 150 0,2,4,6 4

All dimensions in mm - all stiffeners are 8 mm thickness (ts = 8 mm).

Figure 15. (a) Failure load to web depth/thickness ratio – L/r = 50, bf/2tf = 10. (b) Failure load to web depth/thickness ratio- L/r = 50, bf/2tf = 15. (c) Failure load to web depth/
thickness ratios - L/r = 50, bf/2tf = 20. (d) Failure load to web depth/thickness ratio - L/r = 50, bf/2tf = 25.

Please cite this article in press as: Mustafa SAA et al. Experimental and FE analysis of stiffened steel I-column with slender sections. Ain Shams Eng J (2016),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2016.12.001
10 S.A.A. Mustafa et al. / Ain Shams Engineering Journal xxx (2016) xxx–xxx

Figure 16. (a) Failure load ratio to number of stiffeners- L/r = 50, hw/tw = 40. (b) Failure load ratio to number of stiffeners - L/r = 50, hw/tw = 70. (c) Failure load ratio to number
of stiffeners- L/r = 50, hw/tw = 110. (d) Failure load ratio to number of stiffeners - L/r = 50, hw/tw = 150.

Figure 17. (a) Failure load to web depth/thickness ratio - L/r = 100, bf/2tf = 10. (b) Failure load to web depth/thickness ratio - L/r = 100, bf/2tf = 15. (c) Failure load to web
depth/thickness ratio - L/r = 100, bf/2tf = 20. (d) Failure load to web depth/thickness ratio - L/r = 100, bf/2tf = 25.

Please cite this article in press as: Mustafa SAA et al. Experimental and FE analysis of stiffened steel I-column with slender sections. Ain Shams Eng J (2016),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2016.12.001
 S.A.A. Mustafa et al. / Ain Shams Engineering Journal xxx (2016) xxx–xxx
 Specimens with large slenderness failed due to global buckling
and generally are not affected by existence of web transverse
stiffeners or its distribution.
 Adverse interaction between local and global buckling existed
in slender columns which decreased its ultimate strength.
 The load carrying capacity of specimens with large web-to-
thickness ratio could be enhanced up to 34% by increasing num-
ber of web transverse stiffeners.
 Initial imperfection during fabrication should be well controlled
and should be carefully considered in the finite element
modelling.
 Post local buckling strength of the sections is more sensitive to
web width–thickness ratio than flange width–thickness ratio
 Intermediate stiffeners are vital in slender sections with large
web/thickness ratio and relatively small flanges.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to express their gratitude for the Direc-
torate of Scientific Research Projects in Zagazig University, Egypt,
for funding this research.
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Suzan A.A. Mustafa, Associate professor, structural
Engineering department, Zagazig University. She
obtained her PhD in 2006 in a channel program between
Southampton University, UK and Zagazig University,
Egypt. Her fields of interest include FE modeling, anal-
ysis and design of steel, concrete, composite structures,
FRP materials. She has publications in ASCE (Journal of
Bridge Engineering), Elsevier (Composites: part B), Steel
and Composite Structures, Materials and Structures.
Osama M. Elhussieny, Prof. of Steel structures and
bridges, Structural Engineering department, Faculty of
Engineering, Zagazig University. He graduated from Ain
Shams University in 1982. He obtained his PhD in 1988
from Central College of Engineering, France. His fields of
interest include buckling of steel structures, composite
structures, fatigue in steel bridges. He has many publi-
cations in international Journals and conferences, as
Elsevier (Engineering Failure Analysis)and (Journal of
Composite Structures), EUROSTEEL international con-
ference, Conf. of fire Eng., Portugal, Nordic Steel Conf.,
Finland.,
Ehab B. Matar, Prof. of Steel structures and bridges,
Structural Engineering department, Faculty of Engi-
neering, Zagazig University. He obtained his PhD in
2000 from Zagazig University. He obtained a Post Doctor
Fellow ship in TU Graz, Austria in 2004-2005. His fields
of interest include buckling of steel structures, com-
posite structures, fatigue in steel bridges. He has pub-
lications in Journal of the International Association for
Bridge and Structural Engineering, IABSE, Zurich, Euro-
steel international conference,
Ahmed G. Alaaser, Assistant lecturer, Structural Engineering department, Faculty of
Engineering, Zagazig University. He graduated in 2008. He is now doing his PhD. His
fields of interest include buckling of steel structures, fatigue in steel bridges.