Steel Structures Design and Practice

Abstract

Structural design emphasizes that the elements of a structure are to be proportioned and joined together in such a way that they will be able to withstand all the loads (load effects) that are likely to act on it during its service life, without excessive deformation or collapse. Structural design is often considered as an art as well as a science. It must balance theoretical analysis with practical considerations, such as the degree of certainty of loads and forces, the actual behaviour of the structure as distinguished from the idealized analytical and design model, the actual behaviour of the material compared to the assumed elastic behaviour, and the actual properties of materials used compared to the assumed ones. Steel is one of the major construction materials used all over the world. It has many advantages over other competing materials, such as high strength to weight ratio, high ductility (hence its suitability for earthquake-resistant structures), and uniformity. It is also agreen material in the sense that it is fully recyclable. Presently, several grades and shapes of steel products exist. Structural designers need to have a sound knowledge of structural steel behaviour, including the material behaviour of steel, and the structural behaviour of individual elements and of the complete structure. Unless structural engineers are abreast of the recent developments and understand the relationships between the structural behaviour and the design criteria implied by the rules of the design codes, they will be following the coda1 rules rigidly and blindly and may even apply them incorrectly in situations beyond their scope. This text is based on the latest Indian Standard code of practice for general construction using hot-rolled steel sections (IS 800 : 2007) released in February 2008. This third revision of the code is based on the limit state method of design (the earlier versions of the code were based on the working or allowable stress method). The convention for member axis suggested in the code is adopted and SI units have been used throughout the book. Readers are advised to refer to the latest code (IS 800 : 2007) published by the Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi. It is recommended that readers also refer to the latest version of the codes on design loads (IS 875 and IS 1893), dimension of sections (IS 808 or IS Handbook No. 1, IS 1161, IS 12778, IS 4923, and IS Sll), specification of steel (IS 2062, IS 8500, IS 6639, and IS 3757), bolts (