ABSTRACT
The behaviour of and design requirements for the transverse stiffeners of stiffened compression flanges has been studied using a fully non-linear finite element package. Using nodal line representation of the transverse stiffeners, the form and magnitude of the forces applied to the stiffener during the collapse of the stiffened flange were investigated. Further studies concentrated on the behaviour of the flange with varying sizes of stiffener crosssection. This paper looks at the behaviour defined by these results and compares the findings with the requirements of the relevant British Code, BS5400 Part 3, related to the design of steel bridges. Based on this comparison suggestions have been made for modified design recommendations.
