Afghan University “Engineering Faculty”

Lecture # 3: Design of Tension Members

Subject: Design of Steel Structures

Lecturer: Msc Civil Engineering. M.Hamid "Elmy"

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 Introduction to Tension Members
Tension Members in Steel Structures:
 Tension members mostly used in steel structures
 They are structural elements that are subjected to axial tensile
forces.
 Examples include:

1. Members in trusses
2. Cables in cable-stayed and suspension bridges
3. Bracing in frames to resist lateral forces
from blast, wind, and earthquake

2 Lecturer: M.Hamid "Elmy"

 Introduction to Tension Members

Tension Members in Truss:

Web as a tension
member
Bottom Chord
as a tension member

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 Introduction to Tension Members

Tension Members in Building Frames

Bracing as a tension member

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 Introduction to Tension Members

Tension Members in Bridge Cables:

Tension
Cables

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 Design of Tension Members

Stress in Tension Members:

Length of
Member
P Connection

Stresses (f ) in axially loaded members are calculated using the equation:

F=P/A
Where,
P is the Applied load
A is the cross-sectional area normal to the load.
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 Design Requirement
Objectives:
- Find a member with adequate gross and net areas
  
 Find a member that satisfies

Required Strength Available Strength

(Nominal Resistance)

1.4 D
0.9 Fy Ag
LRFD max 1.2 D  1.6 L LRFD min
0.75Fu Ae

Pu
To prevent yielding Pu  0.90 Fy Ag  Ag 
0.9 Fy
Pu
To avoid fracture Pu  0.75Fu Ae  Ae 
0.75Fy
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 Design Strength

A tension member can fail by:

 Excessive deformation (yielding) - Excessive deformation is
prevented by limiting stresses on the gross section to less than
the yield stress. For yielding on the gross section, the nominal strength is:

Pn = Fy Ag and φt=0.90 (3.2.1)

 Fracture - Fracture is avoided by limiting stresses on the net

section to less than the ultimate tensile strength. For fracture on
the net section, the nominal strength is:

Pn = Fu Ae = Fu (U*An) and φt=0.75 (3.2.2)

where Ae is the effective net area, An is the net area and U is the
reduction coefficient (an efficient factor)

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 Net Area
2 1
Ag =Gross Cross Section Area through the length of members
An= Net Area “ the minimum reduced
Area after holes Area are taken out.
An= Ag – A holes

b= breath of plate
t= thickness of member
(1)
D= diameter of holes Ag= b*t

  (2) =(b-D)t

Failure of a tension member always

accrue at the weakest section
9 where Area is minimum (An).
Net Area

Note: for hole drilling 3-4mm

addional dia is punched to place the
bolt .

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 Net Area “ Effective Area”

The AISC Steel Manual introduces the concept of

effective net area to account for shear lag effects.

 For bolted connections: Ae = UAn

 For welded connections: Ae = UAg

where U  1 x  0.9
L

and xis the distance from the plane of the connection to

the centroid of the connected member and L is the length of the
connection in the direction of the load.

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 Net Area “ Effective Area”

Efficiency Factor “U” For welded connections, AISC Table

 
l

1.5w

w
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 Net Area “ Effective Area”
Efficiency Factor “U” For welded connections, AISC Table

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 Staggered Fasteners
All possible failure patterns should be considered:

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 Staggered Fasteners
 
Failure line - When a member has staggered bolt holes, a different approach to

finding Ae for the fracture limit state is taken. This is because the effective net area

is different as the line of fracture changes due to the stagger in the holes.

For calculation of the effective net area, an additional amount of is added for each
inclined line, the Net Area is calculating as: An= Ag - Aholes+ ∑

B
C
D

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 Effective Net Area
 
1-Example: Find out the Net Area for below Figure, consisting of 4x20mm Bolts,

With Plate b= 300mm and t=8mm.

A
Sol: Dh= Db+4mm=20+4=24mm B

1- AD =[30-2*(2.4)]*.8=20.16 D C

2- ABD =[30-3*(2.4)+ + ]*0.8=19.87

3- ABC =[30-3*(2.4)++]*0.8=19.57

AD ABD ABC

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Effective Net Area

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 Work Examples
  Example: Design Double Angle section for Below Bracing.
2-

Length of Bracing L=6.1m & U=0.85

and Total Factored Load Pu= 38.0 Ton

Use &

  𝑷𝒖 𝟑𝟖 ∗𝟏𝟎𝟑 𝟐
𝑨𝒈≥ = =𝟏𝟔 . 𝟖𝟖 𝒄𝒎
𝟎 .𝟗 ∗ 𝒇𝒚 𝟎 .𝟗 ∗ 𝟐𝟓𝟎𝟎
  𝑷𝒖 𝟑𝟖 ∗𝟏𝟎 𝟑  𝑨 = 𝑨𝒆 = 𝟏𝟑 . 𝟑𝟑 =𝟏𝟓 . 𝟔𝟖 𝒄𝒎𝟐
𝑨𝒆 ≥ = =𝟏𝟑 .𝟑𝟑 𝒄𝒎𝟐
𝟎 .𝟕𝟓 ∗ 𝒇𝒖 𝟎 .𝟕𝟓 ∗ 𝟑𝟖 𝟎𝟎 𝒏
𝑼 𝟎 . 𝟖𝟓
  Slenderness Ratio =2.03 cm

Select 2L Section for A= 16.88 and 2.03cm Try L 80

=2.42 So, O.K

USE 2L 80mm
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