A New Concept of the Effective Shear Modulus for a Plate Buckled in Shear
A new concept of the effective shear modulus is suggested for describing stiffness and strength of a plate in edge shear. This concept has quite similar advantages to the effective width, which has been recognized as an efficient approach for analysis of the post-buckling behavior of thin-walled members in compression. The theoretical background of the new idea is described, and based on results of the series analysis an empirical formula of the effective shear modulus for a simply supported rectangular plate is derived taking into account initial deflection effects. Using this formula, an ultimate shear strength formula of a plate is also suggested. The validity of the proposed formula is checked by comparison with the numerical results. It is concluded that the proposed idea will be quite useful if an effective shear modulus formula is successfully developed.