UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

College Park Campus
Wednesday 20, 2002
SOLUTION to QUIZ #3

ENCE 355 – Introduction to Structural Design NAME:______________________

Determine the design strength of the compression member shown in the figure using the LRFD
Specification and a steel with Fy = 50 ksi.

W14 ×145
20 ft

*** SOLUTION ***

Using a W14 × 145, the following properties can be obtained from the LRFD Manual:
Ag = 42.7 in2
rx = 6.33 in
ry = 3.98 in ← Controls (smaller)
K = 0.65 from Table 1 (two fixed supports), therefore,
KL = 0.65(20 ) = 13 ft
K y Ly 12 × 13
= = 39.20
ry 3.98
Using Table 3-50 of the LRFD Manual (Part 16) and by interpolation, the design
compressive strength can be obtained as follows:
39 38.0
φ F − 38.0 39.20 − 39
39.20 φ c Fcr ⇒ c cr = ⇒ φ c Fcr = 37.96 ksi
37.8 − 38.0 40 − 39
40 37.8
Therefore, the design compressive strength is

Pu = φ c Pn = (φ c Fcr )Ag = 37.96(42.7 ) = 1,621 kips

ENCE355 – Quiz #3 – FALL 02 1 of 1

 Formulas, Tables, and Figures
Table 1

Pu = φ c Pn = φ c Fcr Ag

ENCE355 – Quiz #3 – FALL 02 2 of 2