Abstract
HR plates (Hot-Rolled Plate) are produced by straightening hot-rolled steel coil with a primary objective to substitute for thick plates, thereby avoiding a number of difficulties encountered in the production and shipment of thick plates as well as relieving supply problems. In order to evaluate the applicability of HR plates to architectural structures under the KBC 2009 steel design provisions, a total of four full-scale welded built-up H-beams with simple supports were tested together with associated key material testing. The full-scale beam specimens were designed into two categories, or flexural-dominated versus shear-dominated such that both bending and shear strength could be effectively evaluated. The materials test showed that HR plates satisfy both the tensile mechanical properties and the CVN toughness required according to the current material specification. Both the flexural- and shear-dominated specimens exhibited sufficient strengths exceeding the nominal strengths specified in the KBC 2009, thus confirming the applicability of HR plates.
