Patch loading resistance of longitudinally stiffened girders – A systematic review

•A historical overview of the mainstream within the field of patch loading is presented.•Simplifications in the yield resistance have questioned the reliability of the four-hinge mechanism.•Adding the buckling of the directly loaded panel improves the prediction of the resistance.•Prediction formulae for the resistance to patch loading have been improved significantly.

At present, strength-curves approaches are used within European standards to deal with stability problems in steel structures. In this regard, three parameters require special attention; those are the yield load for plastic resistance, the resistance function depending on element slenderness and the buckling load. This paper presents a systematic review of current developments for the resistance of longitudinally stiffened girders to patch loading. Firstly, a historical overview of the mainstream within the field of patch loading is presented. At the end, an illustrative design example is presented in order to further discuss the improvements in the calculation of the resistance.