Cellular beams were developed in 1987 and are an adaptation of castellated beams having many of the same advantages and disadvantages. There are no published results of tests on cellular beams and there is only one recognised method of analysis and design. Full scale destructive tests were carried out for this investigation on eight cellular beams. Beams loaded at midspan and at the third points were tested. Failure load, failure mode and deflections were obtained for each beam. The existing analysis method as well as three new methods for both ultimate load behaviour and deflections were checked against the experimental results. The existing method of analysis was found to be over-conservative in predicting failure loads and inaccurate in predicting deflections. The analysis method which best predicted the failure loads and modes was the design chart which was developed for this investigation. The theoretical method which best predicted the deflection was the Vierendeel method which was also developed for this investigation.

Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.