The influence of applying supplementary web plates on structural joint moment resistance and rotational stifness

Continual trend to simplify structural elements and find less time-consuming solutions on construction site as well as inevitable increase in labour costs determine for instance elimination of those technological steps that are difficult to automation. Welding additional reinforcements and web stiffeners are great examples of such a step. The method presented in EN 1993-1-8 [8] is a result of long-term studies focused on calculating the moment resistance and stiffness of joints without transverse web stiffeners. Design calculations shown in this paper are based on resistance and stiffness growth analysis applying supplementary web plates. Authors consider validity of this solution due to construction effort and building durability remembering about minimization of the costs.