Vol. 22, No. 4, pp. 383-392 (2026)
STRUCTURAL PERFORMANCE AND DESIGN OF HYBRID STAINLESS
STEEL GIRDERS UNDER LOCALISED FORCES
Xiao-Wen Xu 1, Xiao-Yong Sun 1, Jian-Hang Fu 1, *, You-Tian Wang 2, Zhao-Yang Xi 3,
Zhi-Ping Fu 3, Song-Yang Bi 3 and Bo-Shan Chen 3
1 Department of Civil Engineering, Hebei University of Water Resources and Electric Engineering, P.R. China
2 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University,
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, P.R. China
3 School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Hainan University, P.R. China
*(Corresponding author: E-mail:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Received: 24 May 2025; Revised: 3 January 2026; Accepted: 4 January 2026
DOI:10.18057/IJASC.2026.22.4.3
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ABSTRACT
A novel generation of hybrid stainless steel girders, featuring high-strength stainless steel flanges and conventional stainless steel webs, has been developed and is increasingly used in marine structures. This hybrid configuration provides enhanced flexural capacity while simultaneously reducing material consumption and structural weight compared with conventional homogeneous girders. However, no established design rules currently exist for such hybrid steel girders. As a result, the resistance and design of such hybrid stainless steel girders under localised forces should be carefully evaluated. This study aims to fill the gap by expanding on previous experimental work and proposing simplified design methods for predicting the resistance of hybrid stainless steel girders under localised forces using numerical methods. A robust finite element (FE) model, previously developed and validated by the authors, was utilized to conduct an extensive parametric study, generating a total of 1248 FE results. This study focused on key parameters, including the bearing width ratio, web aspect ratio, web slenderness, and local geometric imperfection. The numerical results were analysed to assess the reliability of existing design guidelines, namely GB 50017-2017, EN 1993-1-5, and ANSI/AISC 360-22. The analysis revealed that the predicted values from GB 50017-2017 were unconservative, with an average deviation of 16.4%. In contrast, EN 1993-1-5 (2006) and ANSI/AISC 360-22 (2022) provided conservative estimates, with average deviations of 44.7% and 19.8%, respectively. To address this issue, new design proposals were formulated, incorporating a modified coefficient within the framework of existing design rules.
KEYWORDS
Hybrid stainless steel girders, Localised force, numerical method, New design proposals, Parametric study
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