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Design of 60° equal-leg steel angles according


to CSA Standard S37-94

Article in Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering · February 2011


DOI: 10.1139/l95-068

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Design of 60' equal-leg steel angles
according to CSA Standard S37-94
Murty K.S. Madugula and Seshu Madhava Rao Adluri

Abstract: Sixty-degree equal-leg steel angles find widespread application as leg members of
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triangular-base lattice towers. Compared to 90' angles of the same size, these angles are weaker in
torsional-flexural buckling. The design of such angles is being explicitly covered for the first time in
CSA Standard S37-94, "Antennas, towers and antenna-supporting structures." Recent experimental
studies have shown that the design of 60" angles will be quite safe, if design is carried out using the
expressions for factored axial compressive resistances given in CANICSA-S16.1-M89, taking into
account only the effect of local buckling and flexural buckling about minor axis, and neglecting
torsional-flexural buckling. The Canadian Standards Association Technical Committee on Antenna
Towers also noted that the calculated resistances will still be less than the strengths according to the
widely used Standard ANSIIASCE 10-90, "Design of latticed steel transmission structures," which
considers all the three modes of buckling. The present paper explains the rationale behind the design
procedure adopted by the Technical Committee.
Key words: angles, buckling, compression, design strength, schifflerized angles, specifications, steel
towers, 60" angles.

Resume : L'utilisation de cornikres d'acier i ailes Cgales, comportant un angle de 60°, est largement
For personal use only.

r$andue dans la fabrication de pyldnes i treillis i section triangulaire. ComparCes aux comikres i angle
de 90" de m&medimension, celles avec un angle de 60" sont plus faibles lorsque soumises au flambage
en flexion et en torsion. La conception de ces comikres est traitCe de manikre explicite pour la premikre
fois dans la norme CSA S37-94, << Antennes, pyldnes et supports d'antenne >>.De rCcentes Ctudes
expCrimentales ont dCmontrC que la conception de cornikres i angle de 60" ne prCsente pas de problkme
de sCcuritC, se celle-ci est rCalisCe en utilisant les expressions pour le calcul des rksistances pondCrCes i
la compression axiale contenues dans la norme CANICSA-S16.1-M89, et si elle ne tient compte que de
l'effet du flambage local et du flambage en flexion autour d'un axe. Le ComitC technique sur les
pyldnes d'antenne de 1'Association canadienne de normalisation a Cgalement remarquC que les
resistances calculCes demeureront infkrieures aux rksistances obtenues avec la norme ANSIIASCE 10-90,
(( Design of latticed steel transmission structures B, qui tient compte des trois modes de flambage. Cet
article explique la logique derrikre la mkthode de conception adoptCe par le ComitC technique.
Mots clis : cornikes, flambage, compression, risistance de calcul, spCcifications, pyldnes d'acier,
cornikres i angle de 60".
[Traduit par la raaction]

I,Introduction usually consist of a mast with a triangular cross section sup-


ported by guy wires at different levels of the mast. he
The chief advantage of steel angles lies in the ease with
triangular-base mast consists of three main leg members at
which they can be connected to other members. A great pro- the vertices of an equilateral triangle and several cross mem-
portion of their usage lies in latticed electrical transmission bers bracing the main leg members at intervals. These brac-
towers and communication towers. These towers can be ing members are either directly connected to the main leg
either self-supporting or guyed. Guyed communication towers
members without the use of any gusset plates, or, gusset
plates are used to facilitate the connection For rectangular-
Received July 14, 1993. base towers, this can be easily achieved, since the bracing
Revised manuscript accepted December 5, 1994.
planes, as well as the leg plates of the main leg members,
M.K.S. Madugula and S.M.R. Adluri. Department of Civil intersect at 90" to each other. However, for triangular-base
and Environmental Engineering, University of Windsor, towers, the bracing planes intersect at 60" to each other. If
Windsor, ON N9B 3P4, Canada. triangular-base towers use hot-rolled 90" angles, the bracing
Written discussion of this paper is welcomed and will be members cannot be directly attached to the leg members. If
received by the Editor until October 31, 1995 (address inside gusset plates are used, they have to be bent- The most POP-
front cover). lar solution to the problem is to use angles whose leg plates

Can. J. Civ. Eng. 22: 603-610 (1995). Printed in Canada / Imprimt au Canada
Can. J. Civ. Eng. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Renmin University of China on 06/04/13
For personal use only.
Madugula and Adluri

compressive resistance shall be calculated according to CSA After determining the effective yield stress, FYI,the fac-
Standard S136, "Cold-formed steel structural members" tored axial compressive resistance, Cr, corresponding to
(Canadian Standards Association 1989a). For sections flexural buckling about the minor axis (z-axis) is computed
greater than 4.5 rnrn thick which do not fail by torsional- from the following equations (same as in CANICSA-
flexural buckling, factored compressive resistance is obtained S16.1-M89):
from the formulas given in CANICSA-S16.1-M89, where
the area A is taken as the effective area determined in accor-
dance with CSA-S136. Sections that are thicker than 4.5 mm
and are susceptible to torsional-flexural buckling shall be
designed by rational analysis. But no detailed recommen-
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dations are given in CANICSA-S16.1-M89 regarding this


aspect.
The width-to-thickness ratios of a significant portion of
60" and 90" steel angles used in antenna towers exceed the
limit of 2 0 0 1 6 specified in CANICSA-S16.1-M89. A sig- where
nificant portion of the 60" angles is also susceptible to
torsional-flexural buckling. However, the designers of steel
towers in Canada do not normally use CANICSA-S 136-M89
for the design of such angle members because of the practical
difficulties such as unfamiliarity with CANICSA-S136-M89. 5. Torsional-flexural buckling strength of
To overcome the above problems encountered in the
60' equal-leg steel angles
design of steel angles with slender leg plates, the Canadian
Standards Association Technical Committee on Antenna Failure load under torsional-flexural buckling can be deter-
Towers decided to specify separate clauses to account for mined by substituting the equivalent torsional-flexural radius
local buckling. of gyration, rtf, in place of the minor axis radius of gyra-
tion, r, in [7], for computing the value of the slenderness
For personal use only.

4. Local buckling of steel angles parameter, X. Once the value of X is computed, the factored
axial compressive resistances can be obtained from [4] - [6]
Steel sections such as angles with width-to-thickness ratios in the usual manner. Equivalent torsional-flexural radius of
exceeding 2001fl can be subjected to local plate buckling, gyration, r ~ can
, be computed from the expressions given in
which should be accounted for in their design. Usually, two standard textbooks on the subject of elastic stability (e.g.,
different procedures can be adopted for this purpose: Bleich 1952). The details of the method are given in Adluri
(1) use a reduced yield stress based on the susceptibility of and Madugula (1991).
the individual leg plates to local buckling; and Before proceeding with the calculation of torsional-
(2) use a separate design equation that limits the strength of flexural buckling load of a member (which involves rather
the section based on local plate buckling. tedious computations), it is convenient to determine whether
The Technical Committee on Antenna Towers favoured such a failure mode governs that particular member. The
the first approach, while the second method has been adopted approximate effective length, Gf, below which the torsional-
in CSA Standard S136. Using the first approach, the speci- flexural buckling mode governs the design can be estimated
fied guaranteed minimum yield stress, Fy, to be used in from the following:
evaluating the factored axial compressive resistance is For schifflerized angles:
replaced by an effective yield stress, Fyl,which is a function
of the width-to-thickness ratio of steel angle legs (maximum
ratio is 25) as shown below:
(i) When w/t r 2 0 0 1 6 , For cold-formed 60" angles:

(ii) When 200lfl < w/t r 3 8 0 1 6 , where b, rf, r,, and t are shown in Fig. 1. If the effective
length of the member under consideration is less than the
length given by [8] or [9], it is necessary to proceed with the
calculation of torsional-flexural buckling strength.
(iii) When 3 8 0 1 6 < w/t r 25,
6. Experimental investigation
Experimental investigations have been carried out at the
University of Windsor on the axial compressive strength of
where t is leg thickness and w is effective leg width. For 37 schifflerized angles and 19 cold-formed 60" steel angles.
schifflerized angle, w is the distance from the toe to the edge Tests were conducted under concentric axial compression.
of fillet, i.e., w = a + b - t - rf in Fig. la. For cold- The first test program (Adluri et al. 1991, 1992) contained
+
formed 60" angles, w is the larger of b (r, - 0.5t)l2 and 18 schifflerized angles (out of which six failed in torsional-
b + r, - 2.5t in Fig. lb. flexural buckling) and no cold-formed 60" angles. A second
606 Can. J. Civ. Eng. Vol. 22, 1995

Table 1. Details of test specimens: schifflerized angles - first set.*


Actual measured
Specimen No. of Nominal size Effective length yield stress, Fya PI,, (average) Failure
designation specimens (mm) (mm) (MPa) (a) modet
S5-5/16 3 127 X 127 X 7.9 1654 333 436 T-F-B
S4-114 3 102 x 102 x 6.4 1654 356 292 T-F-B
S3.5-5/16 3 89 x 89 x 7.9 1654 369 355 F-B
S3-318 6 76 x 76 x 9.5 1654 475 286 F-B
S3-114 3 76 x 76 x 6.4 1654 363 204 F-B
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*Reference: Adluri et al. (1991, 1992).


t ~ - ~torsional-flexural
- ~ , buckling; F-B, flexural buckling.

Table 2. Details of test specimens: schifflerized angles - second set.*

Actual measured
Specimen No. of Nominal size Effective length yield stress, F,, Failure
designation specimens (mm) (mm) (MPa) modet
H1 76 x 76 x 6.4 T-F-B
H2 76 x 76 x 4.8 T-F-B
H3 76 x 76 x 4.8 T-F-B
H4 76 x 76 x 4.8 T-F-B
H5 102 x 102 x 6.4 T-F-B
H6 102 x 102 x 6.4 T-F-B
H7 102 x 102 x 6.4 T-F-B
For personal use only.

*Reference: Sankisa et al. (1993).


?T-F-B,torsional-flexural buckling.

Table 3. Details of test specimens: cold-formed 60" angles.*


Actual measured
Specimen No. of Nominal size Effective length yield stress, Fya P,,, (average) Failure
designation specimens (mm) (mm) (MPa) Ow mode?
C1 3 38 x 38 x 3.2 768 310 49 F-B
C2 3 38 x 38 x 3.2 553 3 14 61 T-F-B, F-B
C3 3 38 x 38 x 3.2 343 337 74 T-F-B
C4 3 51 x 51 x 4.8 1128 303 116 F-B
C5 3 51 X 51 X 4.8 747 303 136 F-B
C6 4 51 X 51 X 4.8 37 1 3 12 162 T-F-B
*Reference: Sankisa et al. (1993).
?F-B,flexural buckling; T-F-B, torsional-flexural buckling.

experimental program was designed to test 60" angles (both number of specimens for each size, effective lengths,
schifflerized and cold-formed) predominantly failing in measured yield stresses, and the experimental failure loads
torsional-flexural buckling and consisted of 19 schifflerized are given in Tables 1-3.
angles and 19 cold-formed 60" angles (Sankisa et al. 1993).
The nominal sizes of schifflerized angles included in the first 7. Comparison of calculated and
set of experiments were 76 x 76 X 6.4, 76 x 76 x 9.5, experimental failure loads
89 X 89 X 7.9, 102 x 102 x 6.4, and 127 x 127 x 7.9 mm
(3 x 3 x 1/,, 3 X 3 X 3/8, 3% X 3% X x 6 , 4 X 4 X 1/,, and Calculated strengths are compared with the experimental
5 X 5 X X 6 in.). In the second set of experiments, the nomi- failure loads in Tables 4-6 for the following three cases:
nal sizes of hot-rolled sections were 76 x 76 x 4.8, 76 x Case 1: Only local buckling and flexural buckling are
76 X 6.4, and 102 x 102 x 6.4 mm (3 x 3 x X 6 , 3 x 3 x considered. Actual measured yield stress, F,,, is used in the
'/,, and 4 X 4 X '/, in.) and the nominal sizes of cold-formed computations. Resistance factor, 4, is taken as 1.0 in
60" angles were 38 x 38 x 3.2 and 51 x 51 x 4.8 mm 141- [61.
(1% X 1% X 1/8 and 2 x 2 X 3/,, in.). The details of the Case 11: Same as Case I, but torsional-flexural buckling
experimental investigations are given in the references cited is also considered.
and therefore are not repeated here. Only the specimen sizes, Case 111: Calculations as per CSA Standard S37-94 (i.e.,
Madugula and Adluri

Table 4. Comparison of calculated and experimental failulre loads: schifflerized angles - first set.
Case I Case II Case III

Specimen designation

S5-5/16
S4- 114
S3.5-5/16
S3-318
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S3-114
Weighted average
Standard deviation
Coefficient of variation
Notes: Case I: calculations based on measured yield stress, 6 = 1.0, considering only local buckling and
flexural buckling about minor axis; Case 11: calculations based on measured yield stress, 6 = 1.0, considering
local buckling, flexural buckling about minor axis, and torsional-flexural buckling; Case 111: calculations based
on CSA Standard S37-94 (nominal yield stress of 300 MPa, 6 = 0.9, and considering only local buckling and
flexural buckling about minor axis).

Table 5. Comparison of calculated and experimental failulre loads: schifflerized angles - second set.

Case I Case 11 Case III

Pcalc P,,I, Pca~c P,,,, Pca~c pcalC


Specimen designation A, (kN) P,,,, A, (kN) P,,,, A (kN) P,,,,
For personal use only.

H1
H2
H3
H4
H5
H6
H7
Weighted average
Standard deviation
Coefficient of variation
-- --

For explanation of cases I, 11, and 111, refer to the notes in Table 4.

Table 6. Comparison of calculated and experimental failulre loads: cold-formed 60" angles.

Case I Case 11 Case 111

Pca~c -
Pca~c Pca~c P,,,, Pcalc P,,,,
Specimen designation A, (kN) P,,,, A, (kN) P,,,, A (kN) P,,,

C1 1.13
C2 0.81
C3 0.51
C4 1.21
C5 0.80
C6 0.40
Weighted average
Standard deviation
Coefficient of variation
For explanation of cases I, 11, and 111, refer to the notes in Table 4.

local buckling and flexural buckling only are considered; and Madugula (1991) for schifflerized angles. The expres-
specified guaranteed minimum yield stress, F,, is used in sions presented in Appendix 2 were used to calculate the
the computations; 6 is taken as 0.9 in [4] - [6]. properties of cold-formed 60" angles.
The geometrical properties, required for strength compu- As mentioned above, Case I of Tables 4 -6 accounted for
tations, were calculated using the expressions given in Adluri local buckling and flexural buckling only (and ignored
608 Can. J. Civ. Eng. Vol. 22, 1995

Fig. 2. Comparison of experimental failure loads with loads calculated according to CSA Standard S37-94.
1.4
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- CSA Standard S37-94


X Schifflerized Angles - Set I
+ Schifflerized Angles - Set 11
0 Cold-Formed 60° Angles

torsional-flexural buckling) and used CANICSA-S16.1-M89 Fig. 3. Comparison of effective yield stress, Fyl,according to
for the calculations of axial compressive resistances. This CSA Standard S37-94 and ANSIIASCE 10-90 (E, = 300 MPa).
resulted in the calculated strengths that exceeded the experi-
For personal use only.

mental failure loads by a maximum of only 3 %. In Case I1


of Tables 4 -6, torsional-flexural buckling was also included. -
300
The calculated failure loads for the specimens that failed in
torsional-flexural buckling are found to be 25 % less than the
test failure loads, resulting in an uneconomical design. This
is because of the conservative nature of the expressions used
to calculated the strengths.
-
n,
250 -

E 200-
As per CSA Standard S37-94, 9 = 0.9 is to be used and
L.7
specified minimum guaranteed yield stress has to be used (in -
150
place of actual measured yield stress), which results in a
reduction in the calculated strengths for Case III compared Nominal Fy = 300 MPa
to Case I. Therefore, the design according to CSA Standard 100- - CSA Standard S37-94
S37-94 is quite conservative, even though torsional-flexural --- ANSIIASCE 10-90
buckling is ignored. This is evident from Fig. 2 where 50
I I I I
experimental failure loads are compared with the factored 0 5 10 15 20 25

axial compressive resistances according to CSA Standard w It

S37-94 (i.e., Case ILI of Tables 4 -6).


The expressions for Fylin [lo] are as follows:
8. Comparison of CSA Standard S37-94 (i) For w/t I 209.61-,
and ANSllASCE 10-90
[12] Fyl=Fy
Standard ANSIIASCE 10-90, "Design of latticed steel trans-
mission structures" (American Society of Civil Engineers (ii) For 209.61- Iw/t 5 377.281-,
1992), is a very widely used standard for the design of elec-
trical transmission towers. It uses an ultimate strength
method (not a limit states design method) and therefore does
not have the resistance factor, 4. It requires all the three
modes of failure - local buckling, flexural buckling, and (iii) For 377.281- 5 w/t I 25,
torsional-flexural buckling - to be considered in the design
of 60" steel angles. It uses the following equations for the
calculation of axial compressive strength, Cu.
[lo] Cu= AFY1(1- 0.25X2) for X 5 4 As shown in Fig. 3, for given values of w/t, [12] -[I41
result in effective yield stresses which are higher than the
[l 11 Cu= T~EI,/(KL)~ for X r 4 values obtained from [I] - [3]. Also, for a given value of
Madugula and Adluri

Fig. 4. Comparison of buckling stress according to References


CSA Standard S37-94 and ANSIIASCE 10-90 (F, = 300 MPa).
Adluri, S.M.R., and Madugula, M.K.S. 1991. Factored
axial compressive resistance of schifflerized angles.
Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, 18(6):
926-932.
300 -.--.-_- - Adluri, S. M.R., Madugula, M.K. S., and Monforton, G.R.
.-.
1991. Finite element failure analysis of schifflerized
angles. Computers and Structures, 41(5): 1087 - 1093.
- Adluri, S.M.R., Madugula, M.K.S., and Monforton, G.R.
. 1992. Schifflerized angle struts. ASCE Journal of
Can. J. Civ. Eng. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Renmin University of China on 06/04/13

u' Structural Engineering, 118(7): 1920- 1936.


American Society of Civil Engineers. 1992. Design of
loo - - latticed steel transmission structures. New York, N.Y.,
- CSA Standard S37-94 Standard ANSIIASCE 10-90.
- ANSIIASCE 10-90
Bleich, F. 1952. Buckling strength of metal structures.
McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, N.Y.
Canadian Standards Association. 1989a. Cold formed
steel structural members. Rexdale, Ont., Standard
CANICSA-S 136-M89.
specified guaranteed minimum yield stress Fy, width-to- Canadian Standards Association. 19896. Limit states
thickness ratio w/t, and slenderness parameter A, the com- design of steel structures. Rexdale, Ont., Standard
pressive strength from [lo] and [ l l ] is higher than the CANICSA-S16.1-M89.
factored axial compressive resistance obtained from [4] -[6]. Canadian Standards Association. 1994. Antennas, towers
This comparison is carried out in Fig. 4 for Fy = 300 MPa. and antenna-supporting structures. Rexdale, Ont.,
The maximum value of X corresponds to the slenderness ratio, Standard S37-94.
KLIrz, of 120. This is the maximum permissible slenderness Sankisa, K.K., Adluri, S.M.R., and Madugula, M.K.S.
For personal use only.

ratio for leg members, according to CSA Standard S37-94. 1993. Further studies on the compressive strength of
It can be shown that, for any given member, the factored 60" equal-leg steel angles. Proceedings of the
axial compressive resistance obtained from CSA Standard Structural Stability Research Council Annual
S37-94 (which considers local buckling and flexural buckling Conference, April 5-7, Milwaukee, Wis.,
only) will be less than the compressive strength obtained pp. 309-320.
from ANSIIASCE 10-90 (which considers all three buckling
modes). The Canadian Standards Association Technical Appendix 1. List of symbols
Committee on Antenna Towers took this also into considera-
tion in deciding to ignore torsional-flexural buckling for the unbent portion of schifflerized angle leg (Fig. la)
design of 60" steel angles. cross-sectional area
bent portion of schifflerized angle leg (Fig. la; flat
9. Summary portion of cold-formed 60" angle leg (Fig. lb)
factored axial compressive resistance
The paper has examined the factored axial compressive axial compressive strength according to ANSIIASCE
resistance of 60" steel angles (both schifflerized and cold- 10-90
formed) in light of recent experimental results. Sixty-degree Young's modulus of elasticity (200 GPa)
angles are weaker in torsional-flexural buckling than 90" specified guaranteed minimum yield stress (MPa)
angles. However, the results of experiments have shown that actual measured yield stress (MPa)
the design according to CSA Standard S37-94 by taking into effective yield stress (taking into account local buck-
account the effect of only local buckling and flexural buck- ling) corresponding to Fy (MPa)
ling will be conservative. This is because of the conservative effective length
nature of the expressions for the calculation of factored axial approximate effective length below which torsional-
compressive resistances. The CSA Technical Committee on flexural buckling governs
Antenna Towers (CSA-S37) also took into consideration that polar moment of inertia about shear centre
the proposed design method results in calculated resistances moment of inertia about major axis (u - u axis)
that are less than the strengths computed according to the moment of inertia about minor axis (z-z axis)
very widely used Standard ANSIIASCE 10-90, which requires Saint-Venant torsion constant
all the three types of buckling to be considered for 60" angle
calculated failure load
design.
experimental failure load
radius of fillet for schifflerized angle (Fig. la)
Acknowledgement mean radius of bend for cold-formed 60" angle
The present work was carried out with the financial support (Fig. lb)
from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council equivalent radius of gyration for torsional-flexural
of Canada. buckling
61 0 Can. J. Civ. Eng. Vol. 22, 1995

r, radius of gyration for flexural buckling about minor 3. Coordinate of the centroid along the major axis:
axis (z -z axis)
t thickness of angle leg -
Uc =
0.866b2+b(rm+t)+0.362rk+1.05trm
-
u, coordinate of the centroid along the u-u axis 2b + 2.09rm
i& distance between the centroid and the shear centre
w effective width of angle leg (for calculation of effec- 4. Moment of inertia about z-z axis (minor axis):
tive vield stress)
X slenierness par'ameter according to CSA Standard
S37-94 and ANSIIASCE 10-90 (i.e., based on speci-
fied guaranteed minimum yield stress, local buckling,
and flexural buckling) (A = ( K L I ~ , T ) ( ~ E ) ) + 2.09trm(0.173rm+ 0.5t)2 - A $
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X1 slenderness parameter based on actual measured yield


stress, considering local buckling and flexural buck- 5. Saint-Venant torsion constant:
ling (XI = ( K L / r z . r r ) ( ~ E ) )
+ ~ ' m= (Area) -t2
X2 slenderness parameter based on actual measured yield
stress, considering local buckling, flexural buckling,
and torsional-flexural buckling (A2 equals the larger
(
J =4 3
3
b
3, 3

of XI and ( K L I ~ , ~ T > ( ~ E ) ) 6 . Distance between the centroid and the shear centre:
d, resistance factor
iis = 5(2b3 - 8.34b2rm+ 10.9brk + 4.11r;)
Appendix 2. Geometrical properties of 61,
cold-formed 60 O angles t
-rm--+ Ec
1. Cross-sectional area: 2
A = 2t(b + 1.047rm) 7. Polar moment of inertia about the shear centre:
2. Moment of inertia about u-u axis (major axis): + Iz+ A $
For personal use only.

Ips = I,,

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