Experimental assessment of I-shaped steel beams with longitudinal stiffeners under lateral-torsional buckling

This study focused on the experimental assessment of the behavior of I-shaped steel beams with longitudinal stiffeners under the action of lateral-torsional buckling. Thirty-three IPE-140 steel beams with and without longitudinal stiffeners were tested under simple-support conditions with a laterally unbraced length ranging from 0.69 to 6.0 m. The stiffeners spacing was 0.42 m, which represented three times the depth of the section. The structural behavior of the beams is discussed in terms of their flexural capacity, the lateral displacement of the compression flange and the failure twist angle. The results showed that the use of longitudinal stiffeners increased the flexural capacity up to 82%, decreased the lateral displacement of the compression flange and the failure twist angle up to 72 and 90% respectively, with respect to the specimens without stiffeners.