Local buckling of welded steel I-beams considering flange–web interaction

• A study on the effect of flange–web interaction on local buckling is presented.
• An inelastic local buckling stability model is presented.
• A parametric study is conducted to investigate the parameters of the problem.
• New more accurate width to thickness limits are proposed.

This paper presents an analytical study to investigate the effect of flange–web interaction on local buckling of welded steel I-sections subjected to bending. An inelastic local buckling stability model is presented that accounts for all the geometric and material variables of the problem. The deformation theory of plasticity was used to describe the behavior of steel beyond the elastic limit. The model results were verified through comparison with finite element model results and published experimental ones. A parametric study was conducted to investigate the effect of flange–web interaction on the width to thickness limits. Using the parametric study results, new width to thickness limits were proposed in which all the parameters of the section are reflected.