12/18/2019 Design of steel baseplate to BS 5950 | PHILLIPS CONSULTING ENGINEERS LTD.

Design of steel baseplate to BS 5950

By Ndarama M.S - October 8, 2019

Steel column baseplate is used to connect a steel column with a reinforced concrete foundation.
The stress transferred from a steel column will be huge as the strength of concrete is less than
that of steel when they are connected directly, the high load from steel gets transferred to a
concrete area which will be very small to handle the high loads hence leads to punching of the
concrete.

When you provide a base plate beneath a column, the load gets distributed to a larger area
generating lesser stress.

Column base in short is used to distribute load from a steel column to a concrete foundation and
link the column bottom end to the footing. Column base includes base plates, anchor rods, bolts
and shear resistant elements such as shear lugs.

Clause 4.13 of BS 5950 gives guidance on the design of concentrically loaded column slab
baseplates, which covers most practical design situations. The plan area of the baseplate is
calculated by assuming that;

1. the nominal bearing pressure between the baseplate and support is uniform and
2. the applied load acts over a portion of the baseplate known as the effective area, the extent
of which for UB and UCs is as indicated

https://www.phillipsengineersltd.com/design-of-steel-baseplate-to-bs-5950/ 1/4
12/18/2019 Design of steel baseplate to BS 5950 | PHILLIPS CONSULTING ENGINEERS LTD.

Solved example:

A 254x254x167 kg/m steel universal column supported on concrete foundation carries a design
axial load of 4,200 kN. Design a baseplate for the axially loaded column assuming it is supported
on concrete of compression characteristic strength 40 N/mm2.

Solution

Area of base plate

Effective area,

Bearing strength is taken as 0.6fcu for concrete bases

Actual area,

Abe = (D+2c)(B+2c) – (D – 2[T+c])(B – t)

For 254x254x167 kg/m UC,

https://www.phillipsengineersltd.com/design-of-steel-baseplate-to-bs-5950/ 2/4
12/18/2019 Design of steel baseplate to BS 5950 | PHILLIPS CONSULTING ENGINEERS LTD.

D = 289.1mm, B = 265.2mm, t = 19.2mm, T = 31.7mm

175,000 mm2 = (289.1+2c)(265.2+2c) – (289.1 – 2[31.7+c])(265.2 – 19.2)

175,000 = 76,669.32+578.2c+530.4c+4c2 – (289.1 – (63.4+2c))(246)

175,000 = 76,669.32+578.2c+530.4c+4c2 – (71118.6 – 15,596.4 – 492c)

175,000 = 76,669.32+578.2c+530.4c+4c2 – 55522.2 + 492c

175,000 = 4c2+1600.6c+21,147.12

4c2+1600.6c+21,147.12-175,000 = 0

4c2+1600.6c -153852.88 = 0

c2 + 400.15c – 38,463.22 = 0

c = 80.1mm or c = – 480.24mm

Since c cannot be – 480.24mm therefore c = 80.1mm

c = 80.1 mm.

Minimum length of base plate = D +2c = 289.1 + (2×80.1) = 449.3mm

Minimum width of base plate = B +2c = 265.2 + (2×80.1) = 425.4mm

Provide 450 x 450 mm base plate in grade S275 steel.

Baseplate thickness

The expression for required minimum base plate thickness, tp is given as tp = c(3w/рyp)0.5

Where;

c is the largest perpendicular distance from the edge of the effective portion of the baseplate to
the face of the column cross-section

w is pressure on the underside of the plate assuming a uniform distribution throughout the
effective portion, but should be 0.6fcu

рyp design strength of the baseplate.

https://www.phillipsengineersltd.com/design-of-steel-baseplate-to-bs-5950/ 3/4
12/18/2019 Design of steel baseplate to BS 5950 | PHILLIPS CONSULTING ENGINEERS LTD.

Assuming a base plate thickness of less than 45 mm the design strength рyp = 265 N/mm2, The
actual base plate thickness, tp is

tp = c(3w/рyp)0.5 = 80.1(3×0.6×40/265)0.5 = 41.75mm

Hence 450 x 450 x 42 mm thick base plate in steel grade S275 is suitable.

Thank you for visiting Phillips Consulting Engineers Ltd.

Ndarama M.S
http://www.phillipsengineersltd.com

https://www.phillipsengineersltd.com/design-of-steel-baseplate-to-bs-5950/ 4/4