EdX

Steel Beam and Plate Girder Design (edX)

Offered by Purdue University, PurdueX,
Steel Beam and Plate Girder Design (edX)

Learn fundamental concepts and applications of welded built-up steel plate girders including proportioning, flexural and shear strength, and local and global stability. Built-up plate girders are used extensively in bridges and as transfer girders in buildings. This course will cover the design of built-up plate girders with an emphasis on proportioning, shear and flexural strength, and local/global stability.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see EdX's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Students will leave this course with an in-depth knowledge of relevant limit states and failure modes as well as a familiarity with the AISC360 (American Institute of Steel Construction) provisions for plate girder design. This course is best suited for students with an undergraduate civil engineering background including a basic steel design course and will build on these concepts.
Students will learn from a top researcher with over 20 years of experience in the field. Professor Varma focuses on teaching through exploring example problems and applications of fundamental concepts, encouraging his students to both understand the fundamental principles of plate girder behavior and be able to apply these concepts in realistic design scenarios.
This course is available to practicing engineers for 1.5 CEUs for learners completing the course on the verified track.
This course is part of the Structural Design MicroMasters.

What you'll learn

  • Understand basic buckling theory including beam and plate buckling behavior.
  • Proportion plate girders appropriately for strength and stability requirements.
  • Evaluate the flexural capacity of I-shaped plate girders regardless of component slenderness.
  • Describe the different shear force transfer mechanisms in plate girders including the shear strength of webs with and without tension field action and effects of transverse stiffeners.
  • Evaluate the shear capacity of an I-shaped plate girder and design transverse stiffeners as appropriate.

Syllabus

Week 1: Steel as a Material and Beam Buckling Review
Introduce the course and review important steel behavior and beam buckling concepts.

Week 2: Proportioning Plate Girders and Local Buckling
Discuss initial sizing of plate girders and local buckling concerns.

Week 3: Plate Girder Flexural Capacity (AISC 360 F2 and F3)
Introduce AISC provisions and discuss in detail plate girder design following F2 (doubly symmetric, compact sections) and F3 (doubly symmetric I-shaped members with compact webs and noncompact or slender flanges) provisions using an example.

Week 4: Plate Girder Flexural Capacity (AISC360 F4 and F5)
Discuss in detail plate girder design following AISC 360 F4 (Other I-shaped members with compact or noncompact webs bent about their major axis) and F5 (Doubly symmetric and singly symmetric I-shaped members with slender webs bent about their major axis) provisions using an example.

Week 5: Plate Girder Shear Capacity – Intro and Basic Theory of Shear Capacity
Discuss plate girder shear capacity including the shear capacity of an I-shaped section, yield criteria, and buckling behavior.

Week 6: Plate Girder Shear Capacity – Tension Field Action
Introduce tension field action and discuss its contribution to the shear strength of plate girders through a design example.

Week 7: Plate Girder Shear Capacity – Transverse Stiffeners and Design Examples
Discuss transverse stiffeners design and finish with two plate girder design examples.

Week 8: Exam Review

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

A System View of Communications: From Signals to Packets (Part 1) (edX) EdX
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology - HKUST,HKUSTx

A System View of Communications: From Signals to Packets (Part 1) (edX)

Explore the tradeoffs in designing communication systems like mobile phones, and the engineering tools to handle them. Have you ever wondered how information is transmitted using your mobile phone or a WiFi hotspot? This introductory course seeks to enable you to understand the basic engineering tools used and tradeoffs encountered in the design of these systems.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Electronique I (edX) EdX
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne,EPFLx

Electronique I (edX)

Introduction à l’électronique analogique- première partie. Fonctions de base réalisées à l’aide des amplificateurs opérationnels. Ce cours est un cours d’introduction à la réalisation des fonctions linéaires et non-linéaires de base à l’aide de l’amplificateur opérationnel.



Self Paced
Self-Paced
Modelling, Analysis and Design of Steel Buildings (Coursera) Coursera
L&T EduTech

Modelling, Analysis and Design of Steel Buildings (Coursera)

"Modelling, Analysis & Design of Steel Buildings" is an intensive course that covers a wide range of topics essential for understanding and designing steel structures. The course begins with establishing the building information and initial model settings, followed by a detailed exploration of building geometry and member properties. Participants learn to create member groups, utilize section libraries, and assign materials.

Sep 14th 2026
4 Weeks
Ferrous Technology II (Coursera) Coursera
Pohang University of Science and Technology - POSTECH

Ferrous Technology II (Coursera)

Steel, ever-evolving material, has been the most preeminent of all materials since it can provide wide range of properties that can meet ever-changing requirements. In this course, we explore both fundamental and technical issues related to steels, including iron and steelmaking, microstructure and phase transformation, and their properties and applications.

Sep 28th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Connections in Steel Structures (edX) EdX
Purdue University,PurdueX

Connections in Steel Structures (edX)

Understand steel connection behavior and explore connections with eccentricities, concentrated forces, and moments. Connection design is a critical component of structural design. Understanding how to design steel connections for any combination of axial, shear, and moment loads is fundamental to effective building design. This course will cover the design of steel connections with an emphasis on eccentrically loaded bolted and welded connections, moment connections, and connections transferring concentrated forces.

No sessions available
5-12 Weeks
Super-Earths And Life (edX) EdX
HarvardX,Harvard University

Super-Earths And Life (edX)

Learn about the Earth, life, and how we can search for life elsewhere in the universe. Are we alone in this universe? What new information and observations on exoplanets have we discovered? In the past decade, astronomers have made incredible advances in the discovery of planets outside our solar system. Thirty years ago, we knew only of the planets in our own solar system. Now we know of thousands circling nearby stars.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Circular Economy: An Introduction (edX) EdX
Delft University of Technology,DelftX

Circular Economy: An Introduction (edX)

Ready to make a difference? Learn how to contribute to a sustainable economic system by implementing novel business and design approaches! Our global society is not sustainable. We all know about the challenges we’re facing: waste, climate change, resource scarcity, loss of biodiversity. At the same time, we want to sustain our economies and offer opportunities for a growing world population. This course is about providing solutions we really believe in: a Circular Economy.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Caer o No caer. El secreto de las estructuras (edX) EdX
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid - UC3M,UC3Mx

Caer o No caer. El secreto de las estructuras (edX)

Las estructuras están presentes en todos los sistemas que nos rodean. Descubrirlas y comprender cómo funcionan es sencillo y fascinante. Las estructuras están implicadas en nuestras vidas: las plantas, los animales, casi todo lo que fabrica el ser humano, incluso nuestro propio cuerpo, deben soportar una serie de fuerzas sin romperse, y por lo tanto prácticamente cualquier elemento de nuestro entorno es una estructura de una clase u otra.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Electrotechnique I (edX) EdX
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne,EPFLx

Electrotechnique I (edX)

Découvrez les circuits électriques linéaires. Apprenez à les maîtriser et à les résoudre, dans un premier temps en régime continu puis en régime alternatif. Ce cours définit les notions de base des circuits électriques composés des trois éléments passifs (résistance, inductance et condensateur), linéaires et des sources de tension et de courant.

Self Paced
Self-Paced