Bridge construction is a demanding application typically requiring plate welded sections. Material optimisation for welded plate sections involves a careful matching of strength requirements with available plate sizes to minimise waste and welding requirements and to reduce transportation costs.
Bridge construction is a demanding application typically requiring plate welded sections. Material optimisation for welded plate sections involves a careful matching of strength requirements with available plate sizes to minimise waste and welding requirements and to reduce transportation costs. This optimisation process is an iterative one. Typically a preliminary design is undertaken to determine the required plate thicknesses, dimensions and splice locations. Once material availability has been confirmed with a steel distributor, the designer continues to refine the design to suit actual plate availability and supply lead-times. To minimise the number of iterations in this process, it is helpful to have a feel for the range of plate sizes produced by steel mills. Typically local steel distributors will stock only a limited range of commonly used standard sheet sizes, however most are willing to explore stock options for special projects. 10mm loss of plate width should be allowed for in the cutting process.
Kevin Cowie
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