INTRODUCTION TO STEEL DESIGN DESIGN OF FLEXURAL MEMBERS to BS5950 -1(2000) A revision note by Segun Ajibola (UNILORIN)

Flexural members like Beams (mostly UB rolled sections) and Girders (fabricated sections used for longer spans and larger load bearing e.g. in bridges when UB or its compound section cant work) are horizontal members meant to resist vertical / lateral loads.

FAILURE IN FLEXURAL MEMBERS Failure in steel beams or girders is caused by local instability (buckling) of elements making up the beam section. Flexural members are made up of two main elements; Flange and Web. The compression flange in beam resists primarily bending action while web resists shear. Others local instability effects include torsion, bearing, buckling etc. Deflection at working load should also be checked for serviceability.

INSTABILITY IN COMPRESSION FLANGE Compressive flange of beams which resists bending action can fail due to lateral-torsional buckling. Note that lateral buckling occurs when vertical loads cause high compressive stress in the top flange to act like a column and buckle sideways or when horizontal loads induce a sway effect, while torsional buckling occurs when the cross-section rotates about its longitudinal axis due to loading eccentricity.

Both effects, which can occur simultaneously, will consequently lead to a reduction in moment carrying capacity of the compressive flange.

FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN DESIGN FOR BENDING

1. Lateral and Torsional restrain: Lateral restrain can be full or intermediate. A full lateral restrain can be provided by frictional connection of the comp. flange to a floor (cl.4.2.2). Unless a beam is fully laterally restrained and torsional restrain is nominal, lateral-torsional buckling check is necessary! (cl.4.2.1.1(c)). Intermediate lateral restrain can be provided in form of secondary beams, ties or bracing members (see cl.4.3.2.1 & cl.4.3.2.2 for its requirements). Also, Torsional restrain can be full or intermediate. Full torsional restrain is provided by load bearing stiffeners, cl.4.3.3 (depth of stiffener plate>= 0.6D) The nature of beams without full restrain leads eventually to the concept of effective length, see cl.4.3.5 (which lead to a reduction in Mc value). Also note that the only case in which Le is equal to the actual length between supports is when beam is loaded normally AND support is (i) torsionally restrained or (ii) compression flange is fully laterally restrained or (iii) compression flange only free to rotate on plan. The effective length of beam depends on the both the restrain and loading conditions, see Table13 & 14. (Note that destabilizing load is that which can cause lateral-torsional buckling i.e. instability e.g. crane hor. surging effect).

 Moment Capacity for beams without full lateral restraint This reduced capacity is known as buckling resistance moment (Mb), see cl.4.3.6.5 for further restrictions. When a beam is not fully restrained, Mb, depends on bending strength, Pb, which is determined by considering the equivalent slenderness factor, LT (see Table 16-17) LT = nuv where: n is the slenderness correction factor. Its normally equal to 1 for nonrigorous design. u is the buckling parameter, see section properties. v is the slenderness factor which depends on three factors; N, and X. N is equal to 0.5 for members with equal flanges X is the torsional index, see section properties. is the slenderness = Le/ryy, see section properties for ryy.

2. Section Classification: We have plastic, compact, semi-compact and slender sections, cl.3.5.2. All classifications based on their limiting width-tothickness ratio - see Table11 for sections other than RHS and CHS and Table 12 for RHS and CHS, see also figure 5. (Its worthy of note the term outstand in Table11 applies to compound (compression) flange, with the outstanding flange being the longest!) Plastic sections are those that have both capacity of reaching full plastic moment and possess enough rotational capacity to allow for moment redistributionto allow for the formation of enough plastic hinges required to form a collapse mechanism. Plastic method of analysis is allowed only for

these sections. (Note here that a section reaching full plastic moment means that all points* or fibres on that cross-section will reach their design yield strength) Compact sections can only reach full plastic moment but not with enough rotation capacity to allow for redistribution. Semi-Compact sections cannot reach full plastic moment (only extreme fibres reaches design yield strength) due to local instability or buckling of either flange or web or both. Slender sections: Here, even extreme fibres cannot reach design yield strength due to local instability!

3. Shear Load: According to cl.4.2.1.1 (a) high shear load co-existing with moment can reduce the moment capacity of the beam. High shear loading occurs when shear force due to external load is greater than 60% of its shear capacity i.e. Fv >= 0.6Pv (Where Pv = pyAz, see cl.4.2.3) For beam with full lateral restraint and low shear: 1. Plastic and Compact sections: Mc = pyS <=1.2pyZ (**for cases where the shape factor is greater than 1.2, Mc is given an elastic limit restriction to a value equal to 1.2pyZ so that the risk of plasticity at working load will be avoided**). 2. Semi-compact sections: Mc = pyZ 3. Slender sections: Mc =py*Z (where py*=py and = (275/py)) (1)

Element Outstand of comp. flange

Section type Built-up Rolled

10 / [(b/T)-3] 11 / [(b/T)-4] 21 / [(b/T)-7] 31 / [(b/T)-8]

Internal of comp. flange

Built-up Rolled Table 1

For beams with full lateral restraint and high shear: Proper design is achieved by 1. Reducing plastic modulus for plastic and compact sections by Svp1, Where p1= [(2.5Fv/Pv) 1.5] or see cl.4.2.5.3. 2. For Semi-compact and Slender sections, Mc = pyZ and py*Z respectively, as stated above. For beams without lateral restraint, lateral-torsional bucking check is necessary irrespective of shear loading condition or destabilization effect. (Shape factor = plastic modulus / elastic modulus 1.15 for most I-sections)

INSTABILITY IN WEBS Beam web resists shear stresses and fails due to shear buckling, web buckling and web bearing.

SHEAR BUCKLING Shear instability check is necessary only if d/t > 62, cl.4.4.4.1-3 (This check is mostly necessary for girders fabricated from relatively thin plates). In case of inadequacy, i.e. when Vmax >Vcr, Intermediate load bearing

stiffeners are placed along the beam length to form panels at regular spacing. They are also used for enhancing torsional stiffness at supports and points of lateral restraint as stated earlier. Shear buckling resistance Vcr = dtqcr, see cl.4.4.5. Critical shear strength, qcr, is found from web slenderness, w. Where w = 0.6pyw/qe (pyw is design strength of web and qe is critical shear stress), see tables below:

a/d

qe [(0.75+1/(a/d)2][1000/(d/t)]2 [1 + 0.75/(a/d)2][1000/(d/t)]2 Table2

<1 >=1

w <= 0.8 >= 1.25 0.8 < w < 1.25

Web Class Plastic Slender Transition* Table3

qcr 0.6py qe 0.6py [1- 0.8(w 0.8)]

(a/d is the ratio of panel sides called aspect ratio)

Selecting actual stiffener spacing is best decided based on practical considerations but it is apparent that aspect ratio lying between 0.5 and 2.0 will allow for the most efficient use of material, see Table21

WEB BUCKLING Web buckling is caused by concentrated load e.g. support reactions. Here the Web acts like a column under compression and loading is assumed to disperse uniformly into the web at 450 through half of the depth of section. In case of inadequacy, load bearing stiffeners welded to either sides of the web is employed.

Web buckling resistance, Pw = (b1 + n1)tpc > P (Point load) Where: bi n1 t pc is the stiff bearing length of the bearing plate is distance to half of web depth is web thickness is strut compressive stress from Table where = Le/ry 2.5d/t

WEB BEARING / CRUSHING Web crushing occurs at the end of the root radius or fillet weld and load dispersion at slope 1:2.5 to the plane of flange. Also in case of inadequacy, web bearing stiffeners must be provided. Web bearing resistance, Pcrip = (b1 + n2)tpyw > P (Point load) Where: bi n2 is the stiff bearing length of the bearing plate is distance due to dispersion through the flange at slope 1:2.5 to flange

plane to the top of the root radius or fillet weld t is web thickness

pyw is the design strength of the web

DEFLECTION OF BEAMS This is necessary, at service load, to prevent damage to finishes, unnecessary, misalignment of door frames, crain rails etc. Provided that deflection is not the governing criteria for design, table 8 gives suggested limits for calculating deflections based on span-coefficient ratio. An equivalent uniformly distributed load technique can be used for estimating actual deflection, where equivalent UDL which would induce the same magnitude of maximum bending moment, We = 8 B.Max/L2, will be used for calculating maximum deflection, see Steel Designers Manual or any structural analysis text for formulas.

PLATE GIRDERS

DESIGN OF AXIALLY LOADED MEMBERS to BS5950-1(2000)

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