A numerical study of the strength and behaviour of reinforced coped beams

A numerical study of the strength and behaviour of reinforced coped beams is presented in this paper. Nonlinear finite element analysis was conducted to predict the structural behaviour and strength of the test specimens examined in a different research study by the authors. The finite element analytical results generally agreed well with the test results. Subsequently, a parametric study using the validated FE models was conducted to further examine the effects of various parameters on the strength and behaviour of reinforced coped beams. For all cases examined in the study, none of the reinforced coped beams experienced flexural failure at the coped section. The parametric results show that for the same beam section, the strength of the reinforced coped beams decreases with increasing cope depth to beam depth ratio (dc/D), irrespective of the cope length to beam depth ratio (c/D) and types of stiffener. In addition, the strength of the beams generally decreases with increasing c/D ratio. It was also found that for the cope details examined in the study, coped beam sections with a web depth-to-thickness ratio (d/tw) less than or equal to 52.7 and reinforced by a pair of longitudinal stiffeners are able to develop either the plastic moment capacity of the full beam section near the loading position or the shear yield capacity of the coped section. For a coped beam section with a larger d/tw ratio, a stiffener arrangement consisting of longitudinal and transverse stiffeners is recommended.

► Nonlinear finite element analyses were conducted on reinforced coped beams.
► The analytical results compared well with those from the tests.
► Four types of stiffener were examined in the study.
► Two types of stiffener were recommended for reinforcing coped beams.