(Tension 

Member)

STRUCTURAL STEEL
DESIGN
 

Tension Members
-3-

Dr.Mu'taz K.M
Ass.Prof. in Civil Engineering

Faculty of Engineering ‫اﻟﻤﺤﺎﺿﺮة اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺜﺔ‬ Al-Mustansirya University

 
 (Tension Member)

Design of Tension Members

Tension members need to have enough gross cross-sectional area for
strength in yielding and enough effective area for strength in fracture
.slenderness effects should also be considered .The AISC specification
recommends a slenderness limit (L/r of 300) to prevent flapping ,flutter
or sag of member .

The design of a tension member can be summarized as follows :

1. Determine the minimum gross area from the tensile yielding mode
equation :

…… (1)
.

2. Determine the minimum net area from the tensile fracture

failure mode equation :
………(2)
.

Where net area is found from previous equation as shown

below :

∑
0.75

∑ ......... (3)
.

3. Use large ( value from equa on (1) and (3) , and select a trail 

member size based on the value of   . 

Faculty of Engineering ‫اﻟﻤﺤﺎﺿﺮة اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺜﺔ‬ Al-Mustansirya University

 
 (Tension Member)

4. For tension members ,AISC specifica on Sec on D1 suggest that the 

slenderness ratio  /  should be ≤ 300 to prevent flapping or 
flutter of the member . 
Where : 
K = Effec ve length factor (usually assumed to be 1.0 for 
tension members) . 
L = Unbraced length of the tension member , 
 = Smallest radius of gyration of the member 
The smallest radius of gyration for rolled section can be obtained from 
part 1 of the AISC .For other sec on ,such as plates, the radius of 
gyration can be calculated from : 

 ………. (4) 

Where    is the smallest moment of inertia . 
If equa on (4) cannot be sa sfied (i.e., the member is too slender) the 
member should be pretension . Allow for  5%  to  10% pretension force 
in the design of the member .
Note:
In U = (1-x'/L) ≤ 0.90 ,
For the design of tension members , the following U values (from
LFRD C-B3,P 6-172) are good first estimates :
i. U = 0.85 when longer line of bolts ≥ three bolts .
ii. U = 0.75 when longer line of bolts only two bolts .

Faculty of Engineering ‫اﻟﻤﺤﺎﺿﺮة اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺜﺔ‬ Al-Mustansirya University

 
 (Tension Member)

Assume single line with five 
bolts (7/8 in‐diameter ) 

Faculty of Engineering ‫اﻟﻤﺤﺎﺿﺮة اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺜﺔ‬ Al-Mustansirya University

 
 (Tension Member)

  37.8 kips

Ø
 

2.79 in2

Faculty of Engineering ‫اﻟﻤﺤﺎﺿﺮة اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺜﺔ‬ Al-Mustansirya University

 
 (Tension Member)

2.578 
 
in2
 
2.79 2.578 

Faculty of Engineering ‫اﻟﻤﺤﺎﺿﺮة اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺜﺔ‬ Al-Mustansirya University

 
 (Tension Member)

Faculty of Engineering ‫اﻟﻤﺤﺎﺿﺮة اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺜﺔ‬ Al-Mustansirya University

 
 (Tension Member)

Faculty of Engineering ‫اﻟﻤﺤﺎﺿﺮة اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺜﺔ‬ Al-Mustansirya University

 
 (Tension Member)

Faculty of Engineering ‫اﻟﻤﺤﺎﺿﺮة اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺜﺔ‬ Al-Mustansirya University

 
 (Tension Member)

Tensile rupture strength

(C): Slenderness ratio

 = 1.2 < 1.54   

Faculty of Engineering ‫اﻟﻤﺤﺎﺿﺮة اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺜﺔ‬ Al-Mustansirya University

 
 (Tension Member)

Faculty of Engineering ‫اﻟﻤﺤﺎﺿﺮة اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺜﺔ‬ Al-Mustansirya University

 
 (Tension Member)

Faculty of Engineering ‫اﻟﻤﺤﺎﺿﺮة اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺜﺔ‬ Al-Mustansirya University