Mechanical Properties of Steel

&
Design Philosophy

Prof. Dr. Md. Nazrul Islam

Department of Civil Engineering
DUET, Gazipur.
Email: nazrul2100@gmail.com
Phone: 01716539548
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What is Steel?

Steel is an alloy in which iron is mixed with

carbon and other elements.
An alloy is a homogeneous mixture of two or
more elements, at least one of which is a metal,
and where the resulting material has metallic
properties.
An alloy usually has different properties
(sometimes significantly different) from those of
its components.
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 Mechanical Properties of Structural Steels

o Most widely used standards for structural

materials are American Society for
Testing and Materials (ASTM) Standards.

o ASTM specifications for structural steels

generally identify the Process by which steel
is to be made, chemical composition, and
tensile requirements.

Mechanical Properties of Structural Steels

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 Mechanical Properties of Structural Steels

o Yield strength is usually taken to be that stress which

leaves the specimen with a permanent set of 0.2%
when specimen is unloaded.
o OR stress corresponding to 0.5% elongation.

Mechanical Properties of Structural Steels

o Yielding is a discontinuous phenomenon.

o In tension test, it begins with sudden
appearance in specimen of one or more
narrow slip bands called Flow Lines.

o Slip bands are plastic regions separated by

completely elastic regions.

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 Mechanical properties of structural steel

Stiffness: The resistance of structural

component to deformation.
- Depends on
• Material
• Length
• X-Section

Mechanical Properties of Structural Steels

Stiffness: Variation with Geometry and Material.

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 Mechanical properties of structural steel

Stiffness: Variation with Geometry and Material.

Mechanical Properties of Structural Steels

Strength: The maximum load which a structure

or structural component can resist.

Toughness: The ability of a structure or

structural component to absorb energy.

Fatigue: is a progressive, localized permanent

damage under fluctuating repeated stress.

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 Mechanical properties of structural steel

• Material A is more Stiffer but less Tougher than Material C

• Material A has more strength than Material C
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Mechanical properties of structural steel

Ductility: It implies a large capacity for

inelastic deformation without rupture.

- Ductility will ensure

redistribution of load
through inelastic
deformation.

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 Mechanical properties of structural steel
ASTM A36 Mild ASTM A572
Composition & Property (low-carbon) Grade 50 steel
steel
Ultimate Tensile Strength (ksi) 58 65
Minimum Yield Strength (ksi) 36 50
Properties
Elongation 20.0% 18% min
Iron (Fe) 99% 98%
Carbon (C) 0.26% 0.23%
Manganese (Mn) 0.75% 1.35%

Chemistry Copper (Cu) 0.2% --

Phosphorus (P) 0.04% max 0.04%
Sulfur (S) 0.05% max 0.05%
Silicon -- 0.4%
Vanadium and Cadmium -- 0.02 – 0.15
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Design Philosophies

A general statement assuming safety in

engineering design is:
Resistance ≥ Effect of applied loads --(1)

In Eq. (1), it is essential that both sides are

evaluated for same conditions and units,
e.g. compressive stress on soil should be
compared with bearing capacity of soil.

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 Design Philosophies

Resistance of structures is composed of its

members which comes from materials &
X-section.
◼ Resistance, Capacity, and Strength are
somewhat synonymous.
Demand, Stresses, and Loads are used to
express effect of applied loads.

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Limit States
When particular loading reaches its
limit, failure is the assumed result, i.e. the
loading condition become failure modes,
such a condition is referred to as limit
state. It can be defined as:

“A limit state is a condition beyond which

a structural system or a structural
component ceases to fulfill the function
for which it is designed.”

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 Limit States

There are three broad categories:

1. Strength limit state
2. Serviceability limit state
3. Special limit state

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Limit States
Strength Limit States:
• Flexure • Fatigue
• Torsion •Bearing
• Shear

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 Limit States

Serviceability Limit States:

• Cracking
• Excessive Deflection
• Buckling
• Stability

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Limit States

Special Limit States:

• Damage or collapse in extreme
earthquakes.
• Structural effects of fire, explosions, or
vehicular collisions.

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 Limit States
Design approach used must ensure that the
probability of a Limit State being reached in the
Design/Service Life of a structure is within
acceptable limits;

However, complete elimination of probability of

a Limit State being achieved in the service life
of a structure is impractical as it would result in
uneconomical designs.

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Design Considerations

• Structure and Structural Members should have

adequate strength, stiffness and toughness to
ensure proper functioning during service life.

• Reserve Strength should be available to cater for:

– Occasional overloads and underestimation of loads;
– Variability of strength of materials from those specified;
– Variation in strength arising from quality of workmanship
and construction practices.

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 Design Considerations

Structural Design must provide

adequate margin of safety
irrespective of Design Method.

Design Approach should take into

account the probability of
occurrence of failure in the
design process.

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Design Considerations

An important goal in design is to

prevent limit state from being reached.

It is not economical to design a

structure so that none of its members or
components could ever fail. Thus, it is
necessary to establish an acceptable
level of risk or probability of failure.

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 Design Considerations

Brittle behavior is to be avoided as it

will imply a sudden loss of load carrying
capacity when elastic limit is exceeded.

Reinforced concrete can be made

ductile by limiting the steel
reinforcement.

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Design Considerations

To determine the acceptable margin

of safety, opinion should be sought
from experience and qualified group of
engineers.

In steel design AISC Manuals for

ASD & LRFD guidelines can be
accepted as reflection of such
opinions.
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 Allowable Stress Design (ASD)

Safety in the design is obtained by

specifying that the effect of the loads
should produce stresses that is a
fraction of the yield stress fy (say
one half).

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Allowable Stress Design (ASD)

• This is equivalent to:

FOS = Resistance (R)/ Effect of load (Q)
= fy/0.5fy
=2

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 Allowable Stress Design (ASD)

Since the specifications set limit on the

stresses, it became allowable stress
design (ASD).

It is mostly reasonable where

stresses are uniformly distributed
over X-section (such on determinate
trusses, arches, cables etc.)

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Allowable Stress Design (ASD)

Mathematical description of ASD:

 Rn

 Q
i

Rn = Resistance or Strength of the component being designed

Φ = Resistance Factor or Strength Reduction Factor
 = Overload or Load Factors
Qi = Effect of applied loads


= Factor of Safety (FS)

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 Allowable Stress Design (ASD)

In ASD, we check the adequacy of a design in terms

of stresses. Therefore, design checks are cast in
terms of stresses. For example, if:
Mn = Nominal Flexural Strength of a Beam
M = Moment resulting from applied unfactored
loads
FS = Factor of Safety

Mn
 M
FS
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Shortcomings of ASD

Implied in the ASD method is the

assumption that the stress in the
member is zero before any loads are
applied, i.e., no residual stresses exist
from forming the members.

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 Shortcomings of ASD

• ASD does not give reasonable measure

of strength, which is more fundamental
measure of resistance than is allowable
stress.
• In ASD, safety is applied only to stress
level. Loads are considered to be
deterministic (without variation).

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Load and Resistance Factor

Design (LRFD)

To overcome the deficiencies of ASD,

the LRFD method is based on:
Strength of Materials
It consider the variability not only in
resistance but also in the effects of
load.
It provides measure of safety related to
probability of failure.
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 Load and Resistance Factor
Design (LRFD)
◼ Safety in the design is obtained by specifying that the reduced
Nominal Strength of a designed structure is greater than the
effect of factored loads acting on the structure

 Rn    Qi
Rn = Resistance or Strength of the component being designed
Qi = Effect of Applied Loads
Φ = Resistance Factor or Strength Reduction Factor
 = Overload or Load Factors

= Factor of Safety

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Comparison of ASD and LRFD

ASD combines Dead and Live Loads and

treats them in the same way.
In LRFD, different load factors are assigned
to Dead Loads and Live Loads which is
appealing.

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 Comparison of ASD and LRFD

LRFD is intrinsically appealing as it requires

better understanding of behavior of the
structure in its limit states.
Design approach similar to LRFD is being
followed in design of concrete structures in
the form of Ultimate Strength Design (USD)
-- why not use similar approach to design
of steel structures?
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Comparison of ASD and LRFD

ASD indirectly incorporates the Factors of

Safety by limiting the stress whereas LRFD
aims to specify Factors of Safety directly by
specifying Resistance Factors and Load Factors.
LRFD is more rational as different Factors of
Safety can be assigned to different loadings
such as Dead Loads, Live Loads, Earthquake
Loads and Impact Loads.

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 Comparison of ASD and LRFD

LRFD considers variability not only in

resistance but also in the effects of load which
provides measure of safety related to
probability of failure.
◼ It achieves fairly uniform levels of safety for
different limit states.

ASD still remains as a valid Design Method.

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Comparison of ASD and LRFD

For Tension Members:
In LRFD,
1.2 D + 1.6 L = 0.90 Rn → 1.33 D + 1.78 L = Rn (LRFD)

In ASD, Factor of Safety = 1.67:

1.0 D + 1.0 L = Rn / 1.67 → 1.67D + 1.67D L = Rn (ASD)

LRFD 1.33D + 1.78L 0.8 + 1.07 ( L / D)

= =
ASD 1.67 D + 1.67 L 1 + ( L / D)
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