Shear Buckling Strength of Unstiffened Prismatic I-Shaped Steel Members

Optimally designed unstiffened built-up I-shaped members often have webs that are slender enough to allow shear buckling to be the controlling limit state. Currently used strength prediction methods, based on Basler's research from over fifty years ago, are thought to be excessively conservative. Several other methods have been proposed by researchers. However, inadequate experimental data points are available, especially for slender webs, to allow an accurate prediction method to be selected. Therefore, the objective of this research study is to provide experimental measurements necessary to investigate the accuracy of shear strength prediction methods or to develop new ones.