'Effective Flange Width Definition for Steel-Concrete Composite Bridge Girder' by Methee Chiewanichakorn, Amjad J. Aref, Stuart S. Chen, and II-Sang Ahn

摘要

The authors claim that the performance of a particular structural arrangement under service load is really better than heretofore believed. The authors employ novel reinterpretations of established engineering concepts to support their claim. They suggest that with enough sophistication in our engineering, we can transcend long-held principles and release a deserving system from its present limitations. Expressing dissatisfaction with the computational results obtained for bridge girders, the authors state that the present method of computing effective width of concrete flanges for steel-concrete composite beams is "inaccurate," "conservative," and "not realistic." Drawing from a somewhat limited list of references, they propose a conceptual innovation that requires a rather narrow reading of important published research. It is true that code-mandated formulas for effective width are sometimes inconsistent with theory. But no unanimity about their conservatism exists in the literature. A thorough survey of published work would reveal a number of papers that describe conditions that lead to significant variations in the conservatism, accuracy, and realism of computed effective widths.