LECT 01a

CE-308 Steel Structures
Spring 2023
Introduction to Structural
Steel Design
Engr.Ahsen Aleem
Civil Engineering Department
National University Of Modern Languages
Rawalpindi
Introduction to Structural Steel Design
• Steel Structural Design –BIG Picture.

• Specifications and Codes of Practice.
• Brief History and Examples of Steel Structures.
• Stress-Strain Relationship of Steel Material.
• Steel Properties and Composition.
• Merits and Demerits of Steel Construction
The BIG Picture-Structural Design
“Structural Design may be defined as a

mixture of art and science, combining the
experienced engineer's intuitive feeling for
the behavior of a structure with a sound
knowledge of the principles of statics,
dynamics, mechanics of materials and
structural analysis, to produce a safe and
economical structure that will serve its
intended purpose”
Charles G. Salmon
• The two important requirements when

designing structures:
• Understand fundamental structural behavior
(e.g. forces-deformation response, failure
mode)
• See the broad context of complex structural
system (e.g. load paths, allowable material
strengths, interaction and connections of
members, boundary conditions/end restraints)
• Structural Idealization
• Analytical Models
− List of simplifying assumptions
• Mathematical Models
− Set of Partial differential equations
Bea
m
Colum
n Beam-
Colum
n
What you see…. What you Screen What you

shows…. Computer
processor sees….
Σk
Assemblage of
equivalent springs
{F} = [K]{Δ}
• Min. Weight.
• Min. Cost.
Design is an
• Min Construction Time.
Optimization process
• Min. Labor Force.
• Min. Operational Cost.
1: Planning, Prototype Design.

2: Preliminary Structural Configuration.
3: Establish Load Cases & Load Combinations.
4: Preliminary Member Selection.
5: Structural Analysis.
6: Evaluation of all members to meet strength and
serviceability Criteria.
No
7: Redesign by going to step “3” above.
Yes
8: Final Design thus optimum design is achieved.

Specifications, Standards, Codes and
Manuals
• Specifications
• Specification document typically specify nominal, design
and allowable strengths of each component of the
structure (e.g. tension, compression, connection
components)
• The adequacy of a structural member is determined
by a set of design rules, called specifications, which
include formulas that guide the designer in checking
strength, stiffness, proportions and other criteria that
may govern the acceptability of the member
• There are a variety of specifications that have been
developed for both materials and structures
• Each is based on years of research and experience
gained through actual structural usage.
Manuals
Specifications
AISC American Institute of Steel Construction
AWS American Welding Society
AASHTO American Association of State Highway &
Transportation Officials
AREMA American Railway Engineering &
Maintenance-of-way Association
ASTM American Society for Testing & Material
AISI American Iron & Steel Institute
ASCE American Society of Civil Engineers
ACI American Concrete Institute
Manuals
• Standards
• Document typically specify standard values for other
engineering quantities besides nominal strengths
• Structural Code and Loads
• American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
• Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and
other Structures (ASCE 7-05)
• Material Properties
• American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM)
• ASTM A992 steel and ASTM 913 steel for
material testing procedures
Manuals
• Codes
• A building code has the force of law and is
administered by governmental agency or entity such as
city, country
• Building codes do not specify design procedure but
give out design requirements and constraints
• International Building Code (IBC-2003,2006)
• Uniform Building Code (UBC-1999)
• Building Officials and Code Administrators (BOCA)
Manuals
• Manuals
• A document that serves as a design aid to the
engineer, includes helpful tables and figures as design
aids
• They also give recommendations for how to use the
specifications equations etc.
• AISC Steel construction manual, AISC specifications in
the manual.
Brief History of Steel Structures
What is Steel Structure?

• Steel structures are assembly of structural steel shapes
joined together by means of riveted / bolted or
welded connections.
• Majority of concrete structures are cast in-situ but in

steel structures, we have to select out of those
available in the market.
• Joints are monolithic in concrete structures whereas in

steel structures special methods are required to join
individual members (connections).
1780 - 1840 Cast Iron (High Carbon > 2-4%)-Hard /brittle

arch-shaped bridges up to 30m span.
Not good under repeated stress reversal
1840 - 1890 Wrought Iron (Low carbon <0.1%)-Soft

Spans up to 100m.
1870 - 1920 Bessemer Converter

Introduction to Carbon Steel.
1920 - To date Third most popular construction material

after Concrete and Timber.
Some Historic Iconic Steel Structure
Empire State Building Eiffel Tower Willis Tower

Examples of Steel Structures
High Rise Buildings

Plate Girder Bridges

Truss Bridges
Cable Stayed
Bridges
Suspension Bridges
Steel – Stress Strain Relationship
Typical Constitutive Behavior of Plain Carbon Steel
E=29,000 Ksi or 200 GPa
εy = Fy / E εmax
Plastic
Ductility: Deformation capacity prior to fracture

For Mild Steel, εmax=0.2 and
μ = εmax / εy εy=0.002
So μ = 100 Very Ductile!
Steel – Properties & Composition
Typical Moduli and Poisson’s Ratios

• Steel Composition
• Iron(Primary)
• Carbon
• Other alloys (Chromium, Nickel, Copper,
Phosphorus, Zirconium, Manganese etc.)
• Carbon and other Alloys are used to control
steel mechanical properties, such as yield
stress, ductility, toughness and weldability
• Increasing Carbon increases strength and
hardness but adversely affects weldability
(Cast Iron)
• Increasing Maganese improves strength and
ductility
• ASTM (A33) Steel with Fy = 33 ksi up to 1960.

• Today steel offer wide choice of yield from 25 ksi upto
100 ksi
• The majority of construction steels are grouped under
the following main groups:
A) Plain Carbon Steel: (Well defined yield point)
Low Carbon [C < (0.15%)]
Mild Carbon [0.15% < C< 0.3%] such as A-36, A-53.
Medium Carbon [0.3% C < 0.6%] A-500, A-529.
High Carbon [0.6% < C < 1.7%] A-570
B) High-Strength Low-Alloy Steel:(Well defined yield point)

Having Fy 40 ksi to 70 ksi, may include chromium,
copper, manganese, nickel in addition to carbon.
e.g. A-242, A-441 and A-572.
C) High Alloy Steel: (Not Well defined yield point)
These alloy steels which are quenched and
tempered to obtain Fy > 80 ksi. The yield point is
obtained by the “offset method”, examples are A-709,
A-852 and A-913.
Typical Stress-
Strain Relations
A) Carbon Steel Bolts (A-307):
These are common non-structural fasteners with minimum tensile
strength (Fu) of 60 ksi
B) High Strength Bolts (A-325):
These are structural fasteners (bolts) with low carbon, their ultimate
tensile strength could reach 105 ksi
C) Quenched and Tempered Bolts (A-449):
These are similar to A-307 in strength but can be produced to large
diameters exceeding 1.5 inch
D) Heat Treated Structural Steel Bolts (A-490):
These are in carbon content (upto 0.5%) and has other alloys. They are
quenched and re-heated (tempered) to 900oF. The minimum yield
strength (Fy) for these bolts ranges from 115 ksi upto 130 ksi
Weld electrodes are classified as E60, E70, E80, E100 and E110. The
letter E denotes electrode. The two digits indicate the ultimate tensile
strength in ksi
Steel – Types & Sections
Steel
• Hot-Rolled Sections.
Structural
Sections • Cold Formed Sections.
• Built-Up Sections.
• Most of the structural steel falls into the mild carbon steel
or simply mild steel (MS) category.
• Hot rolled structural shapes may be made to conform to
A36M, A529M, A572M, A588M, A709M, A913M and
A992M.
• Sheets are manufactured according to the standards ASTM
A606, A1011MSS, HSLAS and HSLAS-F.
• Bolts are made according to ASTM standards A307,
A325M, A449 and A490
• Hot-Rolled Sections.
W S C L WT or ST
(a) Wide-flange (b) American (c) American (d) Angle (e) Structural (f) Pipe (g) Structural
Shape Standard Standard Tee Section Tubing
Beam Channel
a – Wide-flange : W 18  97 18 = nominal
b – Standard (I) : S 12  35 depth in
c – Channel : C 9  20 inches
(h) Bars (i) Plates d – Angles : L 6  4  ½ 97 = Lbs / foot
e – Structural Tee : WT, MT or ST e.g. ST 8  76
6, 4 = Leg lengths in
inches f & g – Hollow Structural Sections HSS : 8  8 x 1/4
1/2 = thickness in inches 8, 8= Outside dimensions in inches
¼ = Nominal Wall thickness
AISC
PP2-48
Steel – Types &
Sections
• Cold Formed Sections
• Thin Sheets of Steel
formed into sections at
room temperature
(a) Channels (b) Zees (c) I-shaped double channels
(d) Angles (e) Hat sections

Steel – Types
& Sections
• Built-Up Sections.
• Combination of plates
and sections
Built-up (W) shapes.
Built-up (L) Angles.

Built-up (C) Channels.
Steel – Residual Stresses
Steel – Residual Stresses
• Tension Members.
(a) Round and rectangular (b) Cables composed (c) Single and double
bars, including eye bars of many small wires. angles.
and upset bars.
Perforated
plates
(d) Rolled W – and S – (e) Structural (f) Build-up box

sections. tee. sections.
• Compression Members.
(a) Rolled W-and S- (b) Double (c) Structural (d) Structural (e) Pipe
sections. angles. tee. tubing section
(f) Built-up section

• Bending Members.
(a) Rolled W-and (b) Build-up (c) open web joist.

other I-shaped Sections.
sections.
(d) Angle (e) Channel (f) Built-up members (g) Composite steel-Concrete
Steel – Structural Members
Steel – Structural Members
Steel – Structural Connections
Members of a structural frame are connected together using connections. Prominent

connection types include: (1) truss / bracing member connections; (2) simple shear
connections; (3) fully- restrained moment connections;
 Truss / bracing member connections are used to connect two or more truss
members together. Only the axial forces in the members have to be transferred
through the connection for continuity.
Gusset plate is used to

transfer only axial loads
 Simple shear connections are the pin connections used to connect beam to
column members. Only the shear forces are transferred through the connection for
continuity. The bending moments are not transferred through the connection.
Bracing
connection
Bolted Double angle

shear connection
 Moment connections are fix connections used to connect beam to column

members. Both the shear forces and bending moments are transferred through
the connections with very small deformations (full restraint).
Welded Flange Fully

restrained moment
connection
Steel Structures - Merits
Prominent Features of Steel Construction
Freedom of Expression
Creativity
Creativity
Easy Extension
Easy Fixing of Facade
Easy and Efficient Fabrication
Long Span
Long Span
No Limit of Architectural Design
No Limit of Architectural Design
Recycling is Possible
Slender Columns, More Space
Transparency (use of natural light)
Visible Connections
Visible Connections
Weather Independent Construction
Merits of Steel Construction
1. Reliable in Character
The reliability of steel construction are due
to its consistency in properties.
Better quality control because of its
factory made structure shapes. e.g. if
different samples are taken from the
same type of steel and tested in the
laboratory for its yield stress, ultimate stress
and elongation, the variation is quite less
as compared to the concrete & wooden
samples where the stress variation is quite
enormous.
2. Industrial Consistency
 Rolled steel shapes are obtained from Rolling Mills
and due to their fabrication in the industries their
properties in construction will not much differ.
 There is less manual error as the members are
fabricated & cut in the factories and then assembled
at site; there is not much variation in behavior.
Hot Rolled Steel
Erection
3. Quick in Construction
Rolled steel as well as cold formed
section are available in the market.
The cutting of member section are done
in factories and assembling is partially
made in the factory and partially at site
by rivets, bolts or welds, as the case may
be.
The construction time of the steel building
is comparatively much less as compared
to concrete structure whose construction
is made in site or by prefabricated units.
4. High Strength and Light Weight Nature
High strength of steel /unit weight (lesser self
weight) will mean that dead load will become
lesser. These loads are the bigger part of the
total load of the structure. This is experienced
in large span bridges & tall buildings and
structure having poor foundation conditions.
•Factor ‘C’ defined as ratio of density to the stress. For
different materials, steel will show the lowest:-
• Material C = /f (m-1)
• Al 1.1  10-4
• Steel 3.2  10-4
• Wood 4.5  10-4
• Concrete 24  10-4
5. Uniformity, Durability and Performance
Durability means long life of a structure.
Steel is a very homogeneous and uniform
material.
It satisfies the basic assumptions of most
of the analysis and design formulas.
If properly maintained by painting, etc.,
the properties of steel do not change
appreciably with time.
Hence, steel structures are more durable.
6. Elasticity
Steel behaves closer to design assumptions
than most of the other materials because it
follows Hooke’s law up to fairly high stresses.
The stress produced remains proportional to
the strain applied or the stress-strain
diagram remains a straight line.
The steel sections do not crack or tear
before ultimate load and hence the
moments of inertia of a steel structure can
be definitely calculated.
7. Ductility and Warning before Failure
The property of a material by which it can
withstand extensive deformation without failure
under high tensile stresses is said to be its ductility
Mild steel is a very ductile material. The
percentage elongation of a standard tension
test specimen after fracture can be as high as 25
to 30%
This gives visible deflections or evidence of
impending failure in case of overloads.
The extra loads may be removed from the
structure to prevent collapse
Contd … Ductility and Warning before Failure
 Even if collapse does occur, time is available

for occupants to vacate the building.
 In structural members under normal loads,
high stress concentrations develop at various
points.
 The ductile nature of the usual structural
steels enable them to yield locally at those
points, thus redistributing the stresses and
preventing premature failure.
8. Addition to Existing Structures
Additions to existing steel structures are
very easy to be made
Connections between new and existing
structures can be employed very
effectively
New bays or even entire new wings of
buildings can be added to existing steel
frame buildings, and steel bridges may
often be widened
9. Possible Reuse
Steel sections can be reused after a
structure is disassembled
10. Water Tight and Air Tight Construction
• Steel structures provide completely
impervious construction.
• Structures like reservoirs, oil pipes, gas
pipes, etc., are preferably made from
structural steel
11. Long Span Construction
High-rise buildings, long span bridges
and tall transmission towers are made
up of structural steel.
Industrial buildings up to a span of 90 m
can be designed by plate girders or
trusses.
Bridge spans up to 260 m are made with
plate girders.
For through truss bridges, spans of 300 m
have been used.
12. Temporary Construction
For temporary structures, steel

construction is always preferred.
Army constructions during war are
mostly made out of structural steel.
The structures may be disassembled by
opening few bolts, component parts
are carried to new places and the
structure is easily reassembled.
Steel Structures - Demerits
Demerits of Steel Construction
1. High Maintenance Costs and Corrosion
Most steels are susceptible to corrosion
when freely exposed to air and water
and must therefore be periodically
painted.
This requires extra cost and special care.
The use of weathering steels, in suitable
design applications, tends to eliminate
this cost.
1. High Maintenance Costs and Corrosion
If not properly maintained, steel members can
loose 1 to 1.5 mm of their thickness each year.
Accordingly such constructions can loose
weight up to 35% during their specified life and
can fail under the external loads.
2. High Fireproofing Cost
Although steel members are incombustible, their
strength is tremendously reduced at
temperatures prevailing in fires.
At about 400C, creep becomes much more
pronounced.
Creep is defined as plastic deformation under a
constant load for a long period of time.
This produces excessively large deflections /
deformations of main members forcing the other
members to higher stresses or even to collapse.
2. High Fireproofing Cost (cont….)
Steel is an excellent conductor of heat
and may transmit enough heat from a
burning compartment of a building to
start fire in other parts of the building.
Extra cost is required to properly fire proof
the building.
3. Susceptibility to Buckling
 Buckling is a type of collapse of the members due to
sudden large bending caused by a critical
compressive load.
 The steel sections usually consist of a combination of
thin plates.
 Further, the overall steel member dimensions are also
smaller than reinforced concrete members.
 If these slender members are subjected to
compression, there are greater chances of buckling.
 Sometimes steel, when used for columns, is not very
economical because considerable material has to
be used merely to stiffen the columns against
buckling.
3. Susceptibility to Buckling
Buckling is characterized by a
sudden sideways deflection
of a structural member.
4. High initial Costs / Less Availability
In Pakistan, steel as raw material is not
available in abundance.
Hence, its initial cost is very high
compared with the other structural
materials.
This is the most significant factor that has
resulted in the decline of steel structures
in these countries.
5. Aesthetics
 For certain types of buildings, the steel form is
architecturally preferred.
 However, for majority of residential and office buildings,
steel structures without the use of false ceiling and
cladding are considered to have poor aesthetic
appearance.
 A considerable cost is to be spent on such structures to
improve their appearance.
 Cladding is a covering of metal, concrete, plastic or
timber put on the surface of a structural member to
completely encase it. The cladding not only protects
the member but also improves its appearance.
6. Fatigue
Another undesirable property of steel is
that its strength may be reduced if it is
subjected to a large number of stress
reversals or even to a large number of
variations of tensile stress.

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CE-308 Steel Structures

• Steel Structural Design –BIG Picture.

“Structural Design may be defined as a

• The two important requirements when

What you see…. What you Screen What you

1: Planning, Prototype Design.

8: Final Design thus optimum design is achieved.

What is Steel Structure?

• Majority of concrete structures are cast in-situ but in

• Joints are monolithic in concrete structures whereas in

1780 - 1840 Cast Iron (High Carbon > 2-4%)-Hard /brittle

1840 - 1890 Wrought Iron (Low carbon <0.1%)-Soft

1870 - 1920 Bessemer Converter

1920 - To date Third most popular construction material

Some Historic Iconic Steel Structure

Empire State Building Eiffel Tower Willis Tower

High Rise Buildings

Plate Girder Bridges

E=29,000 Ksi or 200 GPa

Ductility: Deformation capacity prior to fracture

Typical Moduli and Poisson’s Ratios

• ASTM (A33) Steel with Fy = 33 ksi up to 1960.

B) High-Strength Low-Alloy Steel:(Well defined yield point)

(a) Channels (b) Zees (c) I-shaped double channels

(d) Angles (e) Hat sections

Built-up (W) shapes.

Built-up (L) Angles.

(d) Rolled W – and S – (e) Structural (f) Build-up box

(f) Built-up section

(a) Rolled W-and (b) Build-up (c) open web joist.

Members of a structural frame are connected together using connections. Prominent

Gusset plate is used to

Bolted Double angle

 Moment connections are fix connections used to connect beam to column

Welded Flange Fully

Hot Rolled Steel

 Even if collapse does occur, time is available

For temporary structures, steel

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