Structural Steel Design

StructuralSteelDesign

(revisited)
Steelisanalloy,whichisametal,madefromvarious
elements.Thetwomainelementsthatcomprisesteel
areironandcarbon.Ironisbyfarthemainingredient
in terms of percentages, usually making up roughly
intermsofpercentages,usuallymakinguproughly
98%ofallthecomponentsfoundinsteel.Carbon
typicallywillcompriselessthan0.5%ofsteelbutis
very important because it affects the steelssstrength
veryimportantbecauseitaffectsthesteel strength
andhardness.Otheralloyingelements,suchassilicon,
nickel,manganese,andcopper,canalsobeaddedto
steelinvaryingamountstoenhancecertainproperties,
suchasstrength,hardness,andcorrosionresistance.
Advantagesofsteelasastructuralmaterial
High Strength
HighStrength
Thehighstrengthofsteelperunitofweightmeansthatstructureweightswillbe
small.Thisfactisofgreatimportanceforlongspanbridges,tallbuildings,and
structureshavingpoorfoundationconditions.

Uniformity
Thepropertiesofsteeldonotchangeappreciablywithtimeasdothoseofa
reinforcedconcretestructure.

Elasticity

Steelbehavesclosertodesignassumptionsthanmostmaterialsbecauseitfollows
Steel behaves closer to design assumptions than most materials because it follows
Hookeslawuptofairlyhighstresses.Themomentsofinertiaofasteelstructure
canbedefinitelycalculatedwhilethevaluesobtainedforareinforcedconcrete
structureareratherindefinite.
 Permanence
Steelframesthatareproperlymaintainedwilllastindefinitely.Researchonsome
Steel frames that are properly maintained will last indefinitely Research on some
ofthenewersteelsindicatesthatundercertainconditionsnopainting
maintenancewhatsoeverwillberequired.

Ductility
Ductility
Thepropertyofamaterialbywhichitcanwithstandextensivedeformation
withoutfailureunderhightensilestressesissaidtobeitsductility.Whenamildor
lowcarbonsteelmemberisbeingtestedintension,aconsiderablereductionin
cross section and a large amount of elongation will occur at the point of failure
crosssectionandalargeamountofelongationwilloccuratthepointoffailure
beforetheactualfractureoccurs.Amaterialthatdoesnothavethispropertyis
probablyhardandbrittleandmightbreakifsubjectedtoasuddenshock.

FractureToughness
Fracture Toughness
Structuralsteelsaretough;thatis,theyhavebothstrengthandductility.Asteel
memberloadeduntilithaslargedeformationswillstillbeabletowithstandlarge
forces.Thisisaveryimportantcharacteristicbecauseitmeansthatsteelmembers
can be subjected to large deformations during fabrication and erection without
canbesubjectedtolargedeformationsduringfabricationanderectionwithout
fracture thusallowingthemtobebent,hammered,sheared,andhaveholes
punchedinthemwithoutvisibledamage.
AdditionstoExistingStructures
Steelstructuresarequitewellsuitedtohavingadditions
madetothem.Newbaysorevenentirenewwingscanbe
addedtoexistingsteelframebuildings,andsteelbridges
mayoftenbewidened.

Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous
Severalotherimportantadvantagesofstructuralsteelare:
(a)abilitytobefastenedtogetherbyseveralsimpleconnection
devices including welds, bolts, and rivets.
devicesincludingwelds,bolts,andrivets.
(b)adaptationtoprefabrication.
(c)speedoferection,
(d)abilitytoberolledintoawidevarietyofsizesandshapes,
(d) ability to be rolled into a wide variety of sizes and shapes
(d)fatiguestrength,
(f)possiblereuseafterastructureisdisassembled,
(g)scrapvalueeventhoughnotreusableinitsexistingform.
(g) scrap value even though not reusable in its existing form
Disadvantagesofsteelasastructuralmaterial
Disadvantages of steel as a structural material
MaintenanceCosts
Moststeelsaresusceptibletocorrosionwhenfreelyexposedtoairandwaterand
mustthereforebeperiodicallypainted.Theuseofweatheringsteels,insuitable
d i
designapplications,tendstoeliminatethiscost.
li i d li i hi

Nonresistanttofire
Althoughsteelmembersareincombustible,theirstrengthistremendously
g , g y
reducedattemperaturescommonlyreachedinfireswhentheothermaterialsina
buildingburn.Furthermore,steelisanexcellentheatconductorsuchthatsteel
membersmaytransmitenoughheatfromaburningsectionorcompartmentofa
b ildi t i it
buildingtoignitematerialswithwhichtheyareincontactinadjoiningsectionsof
t i l ith hi h th i t t i dj i i ti f
thebuilding.
 SusceptibilitytoBuckling
Thelongerandslendererthecompressionmembersare,thegreaterthe
dangerofbuckling.Althoughsteelhasahighstrengthperunitweight,itis
sometimesnoteconomicalwhenusedascolumnsbecauseconsiderable
material has to be used merely to stiffen the columns against buckling
materialhastobeusedmerelytostiffenthecolumnsagainstbuckling.

Fatigue
Anotherundesirablepropertyofsteelisthatitsstrengthmaybereducedifit
issubjectedtoalargenumberofstressreversalsoreventoalargenumber
j g g
ofvariationsoftensilestress.
Modes of failure
Modesoffailure
Failure by flexure
Failurebyflexure
Failure by shear
Failurebyshear
Pulloutfailureofbolts(formomentconnections)
Allowable Strength Design
AllowableStrengthDesign
TensionMemberAnalysis
Tension Member Analysis
Thedirectstressformulaisthebasisfortensionmemberanalysis(and
design).Itmaybewrittenforstress,

orfortensilecapacity,

where:
where:
ft=computedtensilestress
P=appliedaxialloadP
Pt=axialtensileloadcapacity(ormaximumallowableaxialtensileload)
Ft=allowableaxialtensilestress
A=crosssectionalareaofaxiallyloadedtensionmember(eithergrossarea,
netarea,oreffectivenetarea)
TheSection504.2.1oftheNSCPstatesthattheallowabletensilestress
The Section 504 2 1 of the NSCP states that the allowable tensile stress
shallnotexceed(0.60Fy)onthegrossareaor(0.5Fu)ontheeffective
netarea.
BlockShear
Tension Member Analysis
TensionMemberAnalysis
 Steel beams
Steelbeams

AnimportantconditionassociatedwiththeuseofthisvalueforFb
An important condition associated with the use of this value for Fb isthelateralsupport
is the lateral support
ofthecompressionflange.Thecompressionflangebehavessomewhatlikeacolumn,and
itwilltendtobuckletotheside,orlaterally,asthestressincreasesifitisnotrestrainedin
someway.thecompressionflangeofabeammusthaveadequatelateralsupportsuch
that Lb doesnotexceedthevalueofLc
thatLb does not exceed the value of Lc asgivenbythesmallerof:
as given by the smaller of:
Shear in Steel Sections
ShearinSteelSections
WeldedConnections
Foraxiallyloadedweldingconnections