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The requirement for maximum spacing of transverse stiffeners in CSA S6-00 appears unclear. Must the aspect ratios, a/h, be restricted to 3 or smaller throughout the girder when the web requires transverse stiffeners to resist shear in the high shear regions only? 7/1/2005
Apparently, you are not the first one to ask the question, as pointed out by Alfred Wong who is part of the S6 Committee. He expects that some clarification will be made in the next version. Basically, nothing prevents you from designing an unstiffened web if a/h > 3 and h/w < 150. It's just that the Code does not recognize any tension field contribution if the stiffener spacing > 3h. For example, the value of Ft in Clause 10.10.5.1 should be taken as zero for a panel length a = 8 m and a web depth h = 2 m (i.e. a/h = 4). This question appeared in the "Ask Dr. Sylvie" column of Advantage Steel no. 23, Summer 2005.
Apparently, you are not the first one to ask the question, as pointed out by Alfred Wong who is part of the S6 Committee. He expects that some clarification will be made in the next version. Basically, nothing prevents you from designing an unstiffened web if a/h > 3 and h/w < 150. It's just that the Code does not recognize any tension field contribution if the stiffener spacing > 3h. For example, the value of Ft in Clause 10.10.5.1 should be taken as zero for a panel length a = 8 m and a web depth h = 2 m (i.e. a/h = 4).
This question appeared in the "Ask Dr. Sylvie" column of Advantage Steel no. 23, Summer 2005.
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