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Note 2 Level 2

40 TheStructuralEngineer Technical
February 2013 Technical Guidance Note

Designing a
steel column
Introduction Principles of steel
The subject of this guide is the design of columns in simple construction to
ICON W column design
LEGEND
BS EN 1993-1-1 – Eurocode 3: Design of Steel Structures – Part 1-1: General
Rules for Buildings. It covers rolled steel ‘I’ and ‘H’ sections that are acting W Applied practice
as columns within a braced steel frame structure. It does not encompass
the design of columns within unbraced structures, such as those found in W Worked example
portal frames.
W Further reading

W Web resources

Principles of steel SFigure 1

Steel section notation used in Eurocode 3 Table 1: Steel section
column design notation used in Eurocode 3

The design of steel columns in simple Variable Description

construction focuses on the effect of
buckling due to a combination of bending and b Width of flange
axial loads. The subject of biaxial bending
is covered in Technical Guidance Note 22 h Depth of section
(Level 1) Biaxial bending in columns and
should be read in conjunction with this guide. z-z Minor axis

y-y Major axis

Frequent references will be made to the
section variables throughout this guide.
tf Thickness
You are advised therefore to examine
of flange
Figure 1 and Table 1 for the definition and
nomenclature of these variables. tw Web thickness

Steel material properties Radius of gyration

The material properties of steel as well iz
about the z-z axis
as guidance on section classification is
provided in Technical Guidance Note 1 Cross sectional
(Level 2) Designing a steel beam which A area of the beam
you are advised to consult.

Buckling
The buckling resistance of a column is The NCCI document SN005a-EN-EU:
dependent upon its unrestrained height and
the magnitude of out-of-balance bending
"Biaxial bending in Determination of moments on columns in
simple construction expresess the value of
moments that are applied to it. These columns should be these notional bending moments M1,y,Ed as:
M 1,y,Ed = aa h 2 k + 100 k # (Reaction A - Reaction B)
applied bending moments can act in both
axes, and for columns in simple construction,
it is assumed that they act 100mm from the
read in conjunction Where:
face of the column the beam is fixed to. This
is explained in further detail in the Biaxial
with this guide" Reaction A and B are the end reactions from
the beams that are being supported by the
bending in columns guidance note. column under consideration

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41

• Figure 2
Geometric properties of steel columns that determine their buckling curve
Table 2: Buckling curves vs. geometric
properties of rolled sections

Buckling
Flange
Buckling curve
h/b ratio Axis thickness
curve (Grade
tf
S460)

y-y a a0
≤ 40mm
z-z b a0
> 1.2
y-y 40mm b a
to
z-z 100mm c a

y-y b a
≤ 100mm
z-z c a
≤ 1.2
y-y d c
> 100mm
z-z d c

In simple construction, any bending moments
are split between the sections of the column
that are above and below the floor level. This
is based on the proportion of the column
section’s EI/L bending stiffness. If the ratio
of this stiffness is less than 1.5 the bending
moments are distributed equally to both
upper and lower sections of the column.
Once the bending moments and axial loads
have been determined, the resistance of the
column to these forces is calculated. This
resistance is based on the likelihood of buckling,
as that is the mode of failure for columns.
Clause 6.3.1.3 in BS EN 1993-1-1 explains
how this is established by calculating the
value of non-dimensional slenderness of the
column m . For rolled steel sections this is
done by using equation 6.50:
L 1
m = icr
m1
Where:
Lcr is the unrestrained length of the column
along the axis that is being considered
i is the radius of gyration about the axis that
is being considered
m 1 = 93.9f
Where:
235 N/mm 2
f=
tion B) fg
Where:
ε is the coefficient for section classification
fy is the yield strength of the steel, based on
element thickness
Table 6.2 of BS EN 1993-1-1 defines the
appropriate buckling curve, which has been
plotted in Figure 6.4. This is dependent
upon two geometric properties of the steel
column. These properties are shown in
Figure 2 and Table 2.
Once the appropriate buckling curve is
determined, the axial resistance of the
column can be checked by calculating its
buckling resistance Nb,Rd . For rolled sections
this is described in Clause 6.3.1 in BS EN
1993-1-1 via equation 6.47:
|Afy
N b,Rd = c M1
Where:
χ is the reduction factor due to buckling
γM1 is the partial factor for resistance of
members subject to instability, which in
the UK is set at 1.0
Bending moment resistance
of steel columns
The next check when designing a steel column
is determining whether or not the column will
buckle due to any applied bending moments.
The bending moment resistance Mb,Rd for
column sections is exactly the same as that
derived for a beam section. This is described
in Clause 6.3.2.1 (3) of BS EN 1993-1-1 in
equation 6.55 as:
fy
M b,Rd = | LT W y c M1
Where:
Wy is the major axis section modulus of
the column section, which could be either
elastic or plastic, depending upon
its classification
χLT is the reduction factor that takes into
account lateral torsional buckling
Lateral torsional buckling
Clause 6.3.2.3 of BS EN 1993-1-1 describes
how the value of χLT is dependent upon the
non-dimensional slenderness ( m LT ), which is
defined as:
W y fy
m LT = M cr
Where:
Wy and fy are as per previous definitions
Mcr is the elastic critical moment for lateral
torsional buckling, which is based on the
slenderness of the column
Mcr is not defined within Eurocode 3, which
offers no guidance in calculating its value.
There are, however, many direct methods
for calculating slenderness, the most simple
of which is described in this guide.
Slenderness
For ‘H’ and ‘I’ sections it is possible to
use simplified methods to calculate the
non-dimensional slenderness of the column.
The most conservative method is defined in
Table 1.1 of NCCI document SN002a-EN-EU:
Determination of non-dimensional slenderness
of I and H sections. This states that:
m LT = 0.9 m
The aforementioned document also provides
a more accurate yet complex method and

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 ›
Note 2 Level 2

42 TheStructuralEngineer Technical
February 2013 Technical Guidance Note

you are encouraged to examine this

in order to design more efficiently sized
Eurocode 0.
Applied practice "Mcr is not defined
steel columns.
within Eurocode 3,
Further methods for determining Mcr
can be found on the Non-Contradictory
BS EN 1993-1-1 Eurocode 3: Design of
Steel Structures – Part 1-1: General Rules
which offers no
Complimentary Information for Structural
Steelwork website.
for Buildings
guidance in
Once the non-dimensional slenderness is
BS EN 1993-1-1 UK National Annex to
Eurocode 3: Design of Steel Structures –
calculating its value"
established, the value of χLT is determined Part 1-1: General Rules for Buildings
using equation 6.57 of Clause 6.3.2.3 of BS
EN 1993-1-1:
Worked example
1
| LT = 2
U LT + U 2LT - bm LT A column within a braced frame structure spans 4.8m from ground floor to first. It supports
Where: 4 beams that are orthogonally framed into it. Two of them are tie beams that exert no
out of balance moment, while the other two in the major axis of the column have differing

U LT = 0.5 61 + a LT ( m LT - m LT,0) + bm 2LT@

The values of β and m LT,0 are defined as
0.75 and 0.4 respectively, as described in
Clause NA.2.17 of the UK National Annexe
to BS EN 1993-1-1.
reactions. These ultimate shear loads are 400 kN and 275 kN respectively. The column
supports an ultimate axial load of 2000 kN that originate from stories above the second
floor as well as the forces from the beams. The column size is the same from the ground
to the second floor, with a total length of 9.6m. Check to determine if a 254x254x89 UC
made from Grade S355 steel can support these loads between ground and first floor level.

αLT is the imperfection factor and is found in

Table 6.3 of BS EN 1993-1-1, which relates
to the steel column’s buckling curve.

The buckling curves are labelled ‘a’ to ‘d’

and can be found in Clause NA.2.17 of the
UK National Annexe to BS EN 1993-1-1. The
buckling curve is dependent upon the h/b
ratio of the column section.

Combined axial and bending check

Once the resistances to both axial forces
and bending moments are calculated,
the values are placed into the following
equation:

N Ed M y,Ed M z,Ed
N b,z,Rd + M b,Rd + 1.5 M z,Rd # 1.0

Where:
NEd is the applied axial load
My,Ed is the applied bending moment in the
y-y axis
Mz,Ed is the applied bending moment in the
z-z axis
Mz,Rd is the bending moment resistance of
the column in the z-z axis

This equation only applies to columns within

simple construction braced frames and is
found in NCCI document SN048: Verification
of columns in simple construction – a
simplified interaction criterion. It avoids the
need to apply the ‘k’ factors when designing
steel columns, which are described in
Annexes A & B of BS EN 1993-1-1.

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43

Glossary and
Worked example (cont.) further reading

Reduction factor – A variable applied to

the bending moment resistance of a column
due to the fact that it is unrestrained and
hence subject to lateral torsional buckling.

Rolled steel section – A steel element

that is cast to a pre-set size and not built up
from separate plate elements.

Further Reading
The Institution of Structural Engineers
(2010) Manual for the Design of Steelwork
Building Structures to Eurocode 3 London:
The Institution of Structural Engineers

Steel Construction Institute (2011) Steel Building

Design: Worked examples for students [Online]
Available at: www.tatasteelconstruction.com/
file_source/StaticFiles/Construction/p387.pdf,
Ascot, Berkshire: SCI

The Institution of Structural Engineers (2012/13)

Technical Guidance Notes 1-5 and 22 (Level 1)
The Structural Engineer 90 (1-3) and 91 (1)

Eurocode 0.
Web resources

Tata Steel’s interactive ‘Blue Book’:

www.tatasteelconstruction.com/en/design_
guidance/the_blue_book/

Non Contradictory Complimentary

Information for Structural Steelwork:
www.steel-ncci.co.uk/

The Institution of Structural Engineers library:

www.istructe.org/resources-centre/library

Errata
In an article entitled ‘Whole life carbon – a building case Also, on page 42 the labels of Figure 7 were incorrect. The figure should have appeared as:
study’ published in The Structural Engineer, Volume 90,
Issue 12 (December 2012), the equation on page 41 was
incorrectly given as:

Weighting factor =

It should have read:

/ x i ^100 - 1h
100

i=1
100
(1)
 Figure 7

Embodied structural
3301 tCO2

22%
��
Embodied and operational emissions (cradle to grave, PAS 2050+Markal)

35%
43%
Operational
4003 tCO2

/ i 100 ^
= 1 x i 100 - i
h Embodied non-structural
Weighting factor = 100 (1) 2072 tCO2

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