Add bracing as necessary, certainly. The question is how to determine what 'as necessary' means. And of course the plate both stiffens the channel against bending and provides lateral stability. Code suggests 32 thickness of the plate as the element to be added for calculating stiffness about...
It's not symmetric but its not free to bend in the weak axis as the plate restrains translation along its plane and provides some restraint against rotation of the bottom flange.
Thank you for the response. But I don't believe this case is for a channel welded to a plate. It seems to apply to channels and symmetric shapes bending about their strong axis only. In the case I stated one flange is restrained against translation and to some degree against rotation.
Did I...
I design equipment with plate and C channel stiffeners welded to the plate to resist internal pressure loads, ductwork for power plants, to be specific.
If the free flange, away from the plate, is in compression, what is the maximum length for the channel to run without cross bracing if it is...
