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Structural Steel:
Introduction
C.A.

Steel Nomenclature and Units

• Uppercase to indicate strength or allowable

stress. For example, = 250 is a steel
that has a yield stress of 250 MPa.

• is the nominal shear strength.

• is the flexural design strength.

• Lowercase is the actual or computed stresses.

• is the computed tensile in ksi or MPa.

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Types of Structural Steel

• The customary way to specify a structural steel

is to use an ASTM designation (e.g. ASTM A36,
ASTM A992).
• Carbon steels – having yield stresses ranging
from 36 ksi to 55 ksi (248 MPa to 380 MPa)
– Low-carbon (less than 0.15%)
– Mild-carbon (0.15-0.29%) ASTM A36 belongs to mild-
carbon category
– Medium-carbon (0.30-0.59%)
– High-carbon (0.60-1.70%)

Types of Structural Steel

• High-strength low-alloy steels (HSLA) having

yield stresses from 40 ksi to 70 ksi (276 MPa to
483 MPa). ASTM designations A242, A441,
A588 and A992, among others, belong to this
group.
• Quenched and tempered alloy steels having
yield stresses between 70 ksi and 100 ksi (483
MPa to 690 MPa). ASTM designations A514,
A852, and A709 belong to this category.

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Steel Properties

Steel Properties

• Yield stress, , is the

unit tensile stress at
which the stress-strain
curve exhibits a well-
defined increase in
strain without an
increase in stress
• Tensile strength, , is
the largest unit stress
that the material
achieves in a tension
test.
• Modulus of elasticity,
E, is the slope of the
initial straight-line
portion, usually taken
as 29,000 ksi
(200,000 Mpa) for
design calculation.

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Steel Properties

• Ductility is the ability

of the material to
undergo large
inelastic deformations
without fracture.
• Toughness is the
ability of a specimen
to absorb energy and
is characterized by the
area under a stress-
strain diagram.
• Weldability is the
ability of a steel to be
welded without
changing its basic
mechanical properties

Steel Properties

• Poisson’s ratio, ν is
the ratio of
transverse strain to
longitudinal strain.
Essentially the same
for all structural
steels and has a
value of 0.3 in the
elastic range.
• Shear modulus, G is
the ratio of shearing
stress to shearing
strain during the
initial elastic
behavior.

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Structural Shapes

• The dimension and

weight is added to the
designation to uniquely
identity the shape. For
example, × 132
refers to a W-shape with
an overall depth of
approx. 30 in. that weighs
132 lbf/ft.
• Hollow structural section
(HSS) is used to describe
round and rectangular
tubular members, which
are often used as struts in
trusses and space frames

Structural Shapes

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Structural Shapes
• Plate widths should not be the
same as the flange width ( ), due
to difficulty in welding. Widths
should be somewhat larger of
smaller. It is better to keep the
plate widths as close to as
possible, as width-thickness ratios
specified in the AISC Manual may
govern.
• Width and length tolerances
smaller than 1/8 in. are not
practical. Table 58.3 should be
used when specifying the nominal
plate width.

• Not every plate exists in the larger

thickness. Unless special plates are called
for, the following thickness guidelines
should be used.

Example

A 30 × 124 shape must be reinforced to achieve

the strong-axis bending strength of a 30 × 173
shape by welding plates to both flanges. The
plates are welded continuously to the flanges.
What size plate is required if all plate sizes are
available?

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Solution
The moment of inertia of the 30 × 124 and
30 × 173 beams are 5360 and 8230
respectively. The difference in moment of
inertia to be provided by the supplemental
plates is:

= 8230 − 5360 = 2870

For ease of welding, assume the plate

thickness, t, will be approx. the same as
flange thickness. For the 30 × 124 beam,
the flange thickness is 0.930 in., so choose
the plate thickness of 1.0 in. If w is the
required plate width in inches, the centroidal
moment of inertia of the two plates acting
together is

ℎ
, =
12
2 1
= =
12 6

Solution (continued)
The depth of the 30 × 124 beam is 30.2 in.
Therefore, the distance from the neutral axis
to the plate centroid is

30.2 1
= + = + = 15.6
2 2 2 2

From the parallel axis theorem, the moment

of inertia of the two plates about the neutral
axis is

= +2 1 15.6 = 486.9
6

The required moment of inertia is 2870 .

2870
= = 5.89 [ 6 ]
486.9

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Specifications and Building Codes

• A Specification is a set of guidelines or

recommendations put forth by a group of experts in
the field of steel research and design with the intent
of ensuring safety. A specification is not legally
enforceable unless it is part of a building code.

• Building code is a broad-based document covering

all facets of safety, such as design loadings,
occupancy limit, plumbing, electrical requirements
and fire protection. Building codes are adopted by
states, cities or other government bodies as a legally
enforceable means of protecting public safety and
welfare.

Philosophies of Design

• Allowable strength design (ASD)

– According to this philosophy, a structural member is designed so
that its computed strength under service or working loads does
not exceed available strength. The available strengths are
prescribed by the building codes or specifications to provide a
factor of safety against attaining some limiting strength such as
that defined by yielding or buckling.
• Load and resistance factor design (LRFD)
– Also referred to as limit state design.
– There are two categories of limit states: strength and
serviceability.
– The strength limit state that are of primary concerns to designers
include plastic strength, fracture, buckling, fatigue and so on.
– The serviceability limit states refers to the performance under
normal service loads and pertain to uses and/or occupancy of
structures, including excessive deflection, drift, vibration and
cracking.

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Loads

• Structures are designed to resist many types of

loads including dead loads, live loads, snow
loads, wind loads and earthquake loads.
• The complete design must take into account all
effects of these loads, including all applicable
load combinations.
• ASCE Standard 7, “Minimum Design Loads for
Building and Other Structures” (ASCE7)

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