BUILDING FRAMING SYSTEMS

Steel Roof Framing

Components:

• Bay – a regularly repeated spatial element

defined by supports in a building structure.
• Cross-bracing – any system of bracing in
which the diagonals intersect (x- bracing)
• Purlin – a horizontal member spanning
from truss to truss where roofing material
is attached.
• Ridge – the horizontal line at the junction
or intersection of the upper edges of two
sloping roof surfaces.
• Sag rod – steel bar attached or secured to
purlins at centers or one-third of purlin
span to provide lateral support.
• Span – the distance between any two
consecutive supports of a structural
member.
• Girt – bracing element located in bays to
provide lateral support between adjacent
main roof trusses, rafters, or bents.
• Rigid frame – a framework usually
designed to carry both a lateral and
vertical load which is transverse to the
length of a framed structure.
• Eaves – the lower edge of a sloping roof
that part which projects beyond the wall.
• Turnbuckle – a device for connecting and
tightening a wire, rod, or stay, consisting
of a right screw and a left screw which are
coupled by means of a link.
Steel Truss

Components:
• Chords – principal members (top and bottom)
• Gusset – a plate, usually triangular or
trapezoidal in shape, used to connect two or
more slender members, to add strength to a
framework.
• Web members – king post, verticals, diagonals,
horizontals (occasional)
• Panel – sections between adjacent truss joints
along the chords
• Rise – height
• Span – length
• Truss joints – heel joint, center joint, peak
joint, and intermediate joints
Types of trusses:

a. Triangular (pitched top chords)

• Fink (standard or cambered)
• Pitched Howe
• Pitched Pratt
• Belgian
• Scissors

b. Parallel-chord (rafter/beam/
girder trusses)
• Warren
• Flat Howe
• Flat Pratt
Belgian
c. Curvilinear
• Bowstring (continuous or segmental
top chord)
• Crescent ( concentric or non-
concentric chord radii)

Bowstring Trusses

Note: The cambered Fink, Scissors, and

Crescent truss designs can accommodate
curved or domed ceiling sections

Crescent Truss
Open-Web Steel Joists

Applications: a) floor joists; b) decking; c) purlins; d)

beams and struts

Small prefabricated steel Warren trusses, called

open-web joists, are commonly used to support floor
and roof surfaces. They are economical, strong,
lightweight, and easily erected. The open areas
between the webs permit installation of utilities such
as electric conduits, piping and ducting. When used
in combination with fire-proofing materials, these
joists can carry fire protection ratings of four hours.
Open-web joists can be obtained with underslung or
square ends. Some OWJ’s used for roof decking are
designed with sloped upper chords (standard pitch of
1/4” per foot) to allow roof drainage. For anchorage
the methods most commonly used are masonry
anchors (bolts) embedded in concrete or masonry, or
welding for anchorage to structural steel. Temporary
support to steel can be made by means of a hairpin
anchor bent around the supporting flange.
Bents/Rigid Frames

For each type of loading, there is a

theoretically ideal structural form – a
form having only tensile and
compressive stresses without any
bending stress. As indicated, the
parabolic arch is the ideal form for the
usual uniformly distributed loading.
Galileo discovered the catenary as the
shape of a heavy chain or rope
suspended between two points, and is
inversely, therefore, the ideal form for
a load distributed along the curve itself.
The truss can be an ideal solution for
concentrated loads.
Although these forms also require the least
amount of material for each given structural
condition, they might not be the most desirable
solution for architectural or other reasons. A
rigid frame is a satisfactory answer to the
problem since it can offer a good compromise
between the ideal structural shape and the
desired enclosed space.
When well designed, a rigid frame appears both
functional and graceful. Such framework can
take on almost human form: a combination of
masculine muscle at the knees and crown with
feminine slender at the legs and ribs (rafter).
The knees and crown of steel rigid frames are
strengthened by increasing the section depth and
plate or angular stiffeners/ bracing are added to
prevent buckling especially at the web sections.

Rigid frames can be built in a variety of shapes; they

can be made of rolled steel beams of constant
depth, or fabricated from flat steel plates into I-
shaped sections of varying depths.

Configurations:
A. Rectangular
A B C
B. Sloping legs
C. Arched
D. Gabled
E. Mill bent
D E F
F. Continuous