Craig, I think we agree on this part –All the centroids align, there is no shear flow in the weld. Since this is the case, you could look at this as (3) separate elements taking some portion of the total load. The channels in this case are not part of the load delivery or the support of the combined section – so if they’re carrying any vertical load from one point to another, the load must enter and exit the channel.
For arguments sake, lets say Ix plate is 2x Ix channel, so total combined Ix of the section is 4x Ix channel. Therefore each channel carries ¼ of the load, which must enter the channel somewhere near where the load is applied, similarly, the load must exit the channel near the supports.
Craig_H said:
The welds cannot transfer much vertical shear due to the obvious geometry of the channels.
As I was thinking about how to reply to you, I gave this more thought – I don’t think the channel is fully effective. The vertical shear has to transfer in and out of the channel through the flanges (bending) and is kind of a soft load transfer – you’d need a full FEM model of the beam to confirm, but I suspect only the flange of the channel are doing much. See my proposed effective section in my sketch – for the loading/support conditions, this is what I would consider effective in strong axis bending, I would take the entire cross section as effective for weak axis section properties.
Craig_H said:
To me, in order to ensure continuity of the cross-section, the flexural stress where the web and channel meet must be the same
But continuity of the cross section is shear flow. You just said you agree shear flow is zero – the only purpose of the welds at that point is to make sure the vertical load is delivered to the components in proportion to the stiffness. If the channel and plate were the exact same depth and the load was bearing on the top of the plate/channel, they wouldn’t need to be welded together at all to share the load – and the stress in the channel and adjacent plate would still be the same – no weld required.
Johns20188 said:
There is shear flow in strong axis bending isn't there?
There absolutely is not. Whoever gave you the star for this has a fundamental misunderstanding of shear flow, or didn’t look at your post close enough. The work you show is for calculating the shear flow in the plate just above the channel, not in the weld between the channel and the plate.
Retired13, respectfully, you are fundamentally wrong and you’re giving JP20 incorrect advice. The bending moment in the beam does not come into play when calculating shear flow. Shear flow is not about how much bending stress is in the section, it is about how fast the bending stress in the section is being developed. Shear flow is about how much we’re adding to the bending stress, not how much is already there.
JP20, forget about the maximum moment when you’re checking shear flow. You need the maximum change in moment (location of max shear) – this is where your shear flow is greatest. You seemed to have made it clear that you understood that a few posts ago, but then you went back down the rabbit hole about bending stress with retired13 again.