Section Moment Capacity: Example Problem No.

1

What is the section moment capacity of 530UB92.4 Grade 300 beams about the major
principal axis (x)?

t
w
= 10.2 mm f
yw
= 320 MPa
t
f
= 15.6 mm f
yf
= 300 MPa

Section capacity (For the failure mode of local buckling and yielding)
Flange
e
= (b
f
- t
w
)/2t
f
)
250
f
y
= 6.37
250
300
= 6.98 <
ep
of 9. Compact flange
Web
e
= (d
1
/t
w
)
250
f
y
= 49.2
250
320
= 55.7 <
ep
of 82 Compact web
Section is therefore compact.

Z
ex
= Lesser of S
x
or 1.5Z
x
= Lesser of 2370 x 10
3
or 1.5 x 2080 x 10
3
= 2370 x 10
3
mm
3

| M
sx
= | f
y
Z
ex
= 0.9 x 300 x 2370 x 10
3
= 640 kNm

In this case of compact flange and web (compact section), the capacity is not affected by local
buckling, and is equal to the full plastic moment capacity M
p
.

Note: Since the web and flange thicknesses are different (15.6 and 10.2 mm), their yield
stresses are not the same (320 and 300 MPa) despite being the same steel grade of 300. In the
plate slenderness
e
calculations, a nominal yield stress value of 300 could have been used to
simplify the calculations, however, actual values of 300 and 320 have been used here. The use
of actual values makes very little difference to the final answers. For the section capacity
calculations, the minimum yield stress value of 300 MPa has been used (conservative).

Example Problem No.2

What is the section moment capacity of 200UC52.2 Grade 300 beams about the minor
principal axis (y)?

t
w
= 8 mm f
yw
= 320 MPa
t
f
= 12.5 mm f
yf
= 300 MPa

Section capacity (For the failure mode of local buckling and yielding)
Flange
e
= (b
f
- t
w
)/2t
f
)
250
f
y
= 7.84
250
300
= 8.59 <
ep
of 9. Compact flange
No need to check the web as it is on the neutral axis.
Section is therefore compact.
Z
ey
= Lesser of S
y
or 1.5Z
y
= Lesser of 264 x 10
3
or 1.5 x 174 x 10
3
= 261 x 10
3
mm
3

| M
sy
= | f
y
Z
ey
= 0.9 x 300 x 261 x 10
3
= 70.5 kNm

In this case of compact section, the capacity is not affected by local buckling, and is equal to
the full plastic moment capacity M
p
. Note that S
y
> 1.5Z
y
, so 1.5Z
y
is used.


Example Problem No.3

Figure 4.4 shows a lightly welded box-girder made of Grade 350 steel. What is its section
moment capacity about the major principal axis (x)?

t
w
= 10 mm f
yw
= 360 MPa
t
f
= 12 mm f
yf
= 360 MPa











Figure 4.4 Welded Box-girder in Example Problem No.3

Section capacity (For the failure mode of local buckling and yielding)
Flange
e
= (b
f
/t
f
)
250
f
y
= (360/12)
250
360
= 36 >
ep
of 30, but <
ey
of 40.
Non-compact flange
Web
e
= (d
1
/t
w
)
250
f
y
= [(400-2x12)/10]
250
360
= 45 <
ep
of 82 Compact web
Section is therefore non-compact.

Effective section modulus Z
e
will be between Z and Z
c
(Lesser of S or 1.5 Z )
Z
e
= Z +( Z
c
- Z )


ey e
ey ep

Elastic section modulus
Z = [2x10x(400-2x12)
3
/12 + 2x400x12(400/2-12/2)
2
]/200 = 2.250x10
6
mm
3

Plastic section modulus
S = 2x10x(400-2x12)
2
/4 + 2x400x12(400/2-12/2) = 2.569x10
6
mm
3

Z
c
= Lesser of S or 1.5 Z = 2.569x10
6
mm
3

Z
ex
= 2.250x10
6
+ (2.569-2.250)x10
6
x
) 30 40 (
) 36 40 (

= 2.377x10
6
mm
3

(Note that 2.250x10
6
corresponds to
ey
of 40 whereas 2.569x10
6
corresponds to the
ep
of 30)
Design section moment capacity
| M
sx
= | f
y
Z
ex
= 0.9 x 360 x 2.377 x 10
6
= 770 kNm

In this case of compact web and non-compact flange (non-compact section), the capacity is
affected by inelastic local buckling of the compression flange, and therefore will not reach
the full plastic moment capacity M
p
.



360 mm
400 mm
Example Problem No.4

Figure 4.5 shows a lightly welded I-section beam made of Grade 350 steel. What is its section
moment capacity about the major principal axis (x)?

t
w
= t
f
=10 mm f
y
= 360 MPa












Figure 4.5 Welded I-section in Example Problem No.4

Section capacity (For the failure mode of local buckling and yielding)
Flange
e
= (b
f
- t
w
)/2t
f
)
250
f
y
= [(400-10)/2x10]
250
360
= 23.4 >
ey
of 15. Slender flange
Web
e
= (d
1
/t
w
)
250
f
y
= [(400-2x10)/10]
250
360
= 45.6 <
ep
of 82 Compact web
Section is therefore slender.

Elastic section modulus
Z = [10x(400-2x10)
3
/12 + 2x400x10(400/2-10/2)
2
]/200 = 1.750x10
6
mm
3

Effective section modulus Z
e
= Z

ey
e
for flat plate element in uniform compression.
Z
ex
= 1.750x10
6
x 15/23.4 = 1.122x10
6
mm
3


Design section moment capacity
| M
sx
= | f
y
Z
ex
= 0.9 x 360 x 1.122 x 10
6
= 363.5 kNm

In the above method, the section modulus component of the web also gets reduced despite
being compact. Therefore a more accurate Z
ex
can be obtained as shown next if the reduction
is only applied to the section modulus component of the slender flange.

Z
ex
= [10x(400-2x10)
3
/12 + 2x400x10(400/2-10/2)
2
x(15/23.4)]/200 = 1.204x10
6
mm
3

| M
sx
= | f
y
Z
ex
= 0.9 x 360 x 1.204 x 10
6
= 390.1 kNm
This method gives about 7% more in bending capacity.

In this case of compact web and slender flange (slender section), the capacity is affected by
elastic local buckling of flanges, and therefore will not even reach the first yield moment
capacity M
y
.

400 mm
400 mm
Example Problem No.5

Figure 4.6 shows a lightly welded plate girder made of Grade 350 steel. What is its section
moment capacity about the major principal axis (x)?
t
w
= 10 mm f
yw
= 360 MPa
t
f
= 25 mm f
yf
= 340 MPa













Figure 4.6 Welded Plate Girder in Example Problem No.5

Section capacity (For the failure mode of local buckling and yielding)
Flange
e
= (b
f
- t
w
)/2t
f
)
250
f
y
= [(300-10)/2x25]
250
340
= 6.76 <
ep
of 8. Compact flange
Web
e
= (d
1
/t
w
)
250
f
y
= [(1500-2x 25)/10]
250
360
= 174 >
ey
of 115 Slender web.
Section is therefore slender, governed by web element, ie. Section slenderness
s
= 174

Ignoring the contribution of web to the section modulus
Z
ex
= [2x300x25x(1500/2-25/2)
2
]/750 = 10.878x10
6
mm
3

| M
sx
= | f
y
Z
ex
= 0.9 x 340 x 10.878x10
6
= 3329 kNm

The AS 4100 design rules do not address this case of slender web with both edges supported.
Instead it gives the following rule for flat plate element with maximum compression at
unsupported edge and tension at the other edge (including zero tension).
Effective section modulus Z
e
= Z (

ey
e
)
2

Applying this to the section modulus of the web only,
Z
ex
= [{10x(1500-2x25)
3
/12} x (115/174)
2
+ 2x300x25(1500/2-25/2)
2
]/750 =12.358x10
6
mm
3

WEB componet FLANGE component
Design section moment capacity
| M
sx
= | f
y
Z
ex
= 0.9 x 340 x 12.358 x 10
6
= 3780 kNm

This method gives about 13.5% more in capacity.

In this case of compact flange and slender web (slender section), the capacity is affected by
elastic local buckling of webs, and therefore will not even reach the first yield moment
capacity M
y
.
300 mm
1500 mm
Example Problem No.6

Figure 4.7 shows a welded plate girder made of Grade 350 steel. What is its section moment
capacity about the major principal axis (x)?
t
w
= 10 mm f
yw
= 360 MPa
t
f
= 15 mm f
yf
= 350 MPa













Figure 4.7 Welded Plate Girder in Example Problem No.6

Section capacity (For the failure mode of local buckling and yielding)
Flange
e
= (b
f
- t
w
)/2t
f
)
250
f
y
= [(450-10)/2x15]
250
350
= 17.4 >
ey
of 15.
Slender flange
Web
e
= (d
1
/t
w
)
250
f
y
= [(1500-2x15)/10]
250
360
= 176.4 >
ey
of 115
Slender web.

Section is therefore slender and its slenderness will be that of web as (176.4/115) >
(17.4/15). Section slenderness
s
= 176.4

Ignoring the contribution of web to the section modulus and allowing for the slender flange in
uniform compression, ie. Z
e
= Z

ey
e
for flat plate element in uniform compression;

Z
ex
= {[2x450x15x(1500/2-15/2)
2
]/750} x (15/17.4) = 8.555x10
6
mm
3

| M
sx
= | f
y
Z
ex
= 0.9 x 350 x 8.555x10
6
= 2695 kNm

The AS 4100 design rules do not address this case of slender web with both edges supported.
Instead it gives the following rule for flat plate element with maximum compression at
unsupported edge and tension at the other edge (including zero tension).
Effective section modulus Z
e
= Z (

ey
e
)
2

Applying this to the section modulus of the web only,
Z
ex
= [{10x(1500-2x15)
3
/12}x(115/176.4)
2
+{2x450x15x(1500/2-15/2)
2
}x(15/17.4)]/750
= 10.055x10
6
mm
3
WEB componet FLANGE component
450 mm
1500 mm
Design section moment capacity
| M
sx
= | f
y
Z
ex
= 0.9 x 350 x 10.055 x 10
6
= 3519 kNm

This method gives about 30.5% more in capacity.

In this case of slender web and flange (slender section), the capacity is affected by elastic
local buckling of both web and flange, and therefore will be much less than the first yield
moment capacity M
y
.

Example Problem No.7

How do you calculate the section moment capacity of an I-section beam about the minor
principal axis (y) if its flanges are slender?.

The AS 4100 design rules address this case of slender flanges with maximum compression at
unsupported edge and zero tension at the other edge.
Effective section modulus Z
e
= Z (

ey
e
)
2

Z
ey
= Z
flange
(

ey
e
)
2
where
ey
= 25 for hot-rolled sections.
The section modulus component of web, Z
web,
is negligible.


Example Problem No.8

What is the section moment capacity of a Grade 350 1500 x 10 CHS?

t = 10 mm f
yf
= 360 MPa d
o
= 1500 mm

Section capacity (For the failure mode of local buckling and yielding)

s
=
t
d
o

250
f
y
= (1500/10) x (360/250) = 216 >
ey
of 120.
Slender section

Z
e
= Lesser of Z\(
sy
/
s
) and Z(2
sy
/
s
)
2
= Lesser of Z x \(120/216) or Z x (2x120/216)
2

= Lesser of 0.745 Z or 1.235 Z = 0.745 Z

Z
e
= 0.745 [{t(1500
4
-1480
4
)/64}/750] = 12.903x10
6
mm
3

| M
s
= | f
y
Z
e
= 0.9 x 360 x 12.903x10
6
= 4181 kNm

Member Capacity: Example Problem No.1

Figure 4.14 shows the roof structure of a service station building. Determine the size of a
suitable UB section for the main beams B if the wind uplift pressure on the roof is 2.5 kPa.




Beam
B
2m





Column A






Elevation




1.5 m












Plan View

Figure 4.14. Service Station Building for Example Problem 1

Using the roofing and purlin manufacturers charts,
- The required roof sheeting: 0.42 mm Monoclad with an internal span of 1700 mm and
end spans of 1350 mm.
- the required C-section purlin to be used for the given wind uplift pressure is C300-30.

11 m 2 m

2 m
11 m
2 m
Column A
Purlins
Main Beams B
1.5 m
8 m
Metal sheeting Purlins
Load Evaluation for Beam Design

For each main beam, the uniformly distributed design load due to
wind uplift load = 2.5 x 5.5 x 15/15 = 13.75 kN/m
self-weight of sheeting = 4.28 kg/m
2
x (9.81/1000) x 5.5 = 0.231 kN/m
self-weight of 10 purlins = (12.72 kg/m x 5.5 x 10 / 15) x (9.81/1000) = 0.458 kN/m
Assume beam self-weight to be 80 kg/m = 0.78 kN/m
Total self-weight of roof allowing for connections = (0.231 + 0.458 + 0.78) 1.1 = 1.616 kN/m

w kN/m

Figure 4.15 Loading diagram for Main Beams B

Maximum bending moment M
max
= 7.5 w x 5.5 7.5 w x 3.75 = 13.125 w kNm

Wind Uplift Case (dead load plus wind load combination),

Design load w = 0.9 x (1.616) 13.75 = - 12.30 kN/m (net wind uplift)
Design moment M* = 13.125 x 12.30 = 161.4 kNm

Effective length factors:
Segment length is 11 m and its ends can be assumed to be fully restrained (F).
Since purlins are located on the tension flange, they are considered not to provide any lateral
restraint to the main beam, hence the Full span segment has to be considered (ie. 11 m)
k
t
= 1; load applied on the sheeting, ie. on the tension flange, k
l
= 1; k
r
= 1
Effective length l
e
= 1 x 1 x 1 x 11 m = 11 m

Try 610UB101, Z
ex
= 2900 x 10
3

|M
sx
= 0.9 x 300 x 2900 x 10
3
= 783 kNm (M
sx
= 870 kNm)

For l
e
= 11 m, the reference buckling moment M
o
= 223 kNm from the table given at the end
of this problem. Alternatively, it can be calculated using appropriate section properties of
610UB101 and an effective length of 11 m in the buckling formula given earlier in this
section.
o
s
= 0.6 [ )
223
870
( 3 )
223
870
(
2
+ ] = 0.220

Moment distribution factor o
m
= 1.13 for a bending moment distribution due to a uniformly
distributed load on a simply supported beam (ignoring the effect due to overhangs).

|M
bx
= o
m
o
s
|M
sx
= 1.13 x 0.220 x 783 = 194.7 kNm > M* of 161.4 kNm
Hence the choice of 610UB101 is satisfactory.

Check the self-weight of beam 610UB101 = 101 kg/m = 0.99 kN/m
Revised self-weight of roof = (0.231 + 0.458 + 0.99) x 1.1 = 1.85 kN/m
Revised design moment = 13.125 x [0.9 x 1.85 13.75] = 158.6 kNm, OK.
11m 2 m 2 m
Now check for Gravity Load Case (Dead load plus live load combination)

For each main beam, the uniformly distributed design load due to
Live load Q = 0.25 kPa x 5.5 = 1.375 kN/m
Dead load G = 1.85 kN/m
Design load w = 1.2 x 1.85 + 1.5 x 1.375 = 4.28 kN/m
Design moment M* = 13.125 x 4.28 = 56.2 kNm

Effective length factors:
In this case purlins are fixed to the compression flange of the beams and hence will improve
its buckling strength. They will also divide the main span into many small segments.
Segment length l is equal to purlin spacing = 1.7 m and its ends can be assumed to be fully
restrained (F) see AISC publication.
k
t
= 1;
load is applied on the sheeting, ie. on the compression flange, so usually k
l
could have been
1.4, but the load is transferred via the purlin at the segment end, so k
l
= 1.0
k
r
= 1
Effective length l
e
= 1 x 1 x 1 x 1.7 = 1.7 m

For l
e
= 1.7 m, the reference buckling moment M
o
= 6338 kNm
o
s
= 0.6 [ )
6338
870
( 3 )
6338
870
(
2
+ ] = 0.960

Moment distribution factor o
m
can be taken as 1 for a short segment of length 1.7 m.

|M
bx
= o
m
o
s
|M
sx
= 1 x 0.960 x 783 = 752 kNm > M* of 56.2 kNm
Hence the choice of 610UB101 is satisfactory, but over-design; the section is too big.

This is not an economical design; reduce effective length for wind uplift case by providing
fly braces at every purlin (spaced at 1.7 m).
Effective length l
e
= 1 x 1 x 1 x 1.7 m = 1.7 m
Moment distribution factor o
m
can be taken as 1 for a short segment of length 1.7 m.
Using ASI design capacity tables, required section is 310UB46.2.
Its design capacity is o
m
x 176 = 176 kNm > M* of 158.6 kNm OK

For gravity loads, effective length l
e
= 1 x 1.0 x 1 x 1.7 m = 1.7 m
As before, o
m
= 1, |M
bx
= 176 kNm for the chosen 310UB46.2. This is > M* of 56.2 kNm.
OK
Use 310UB46.2
Example Problem No. 2

Design the beam ABCD shown in Figure 2. The loads shown include load factors. The
connection and support conditions at A, B and C are as per the AISC publication (Types 1, 11
and 8, respectively).



Type 11




A 3 m B 3 m C 3 m D
Type 1 Type 8

Figure 4.16. Beam ABCD for Example Problem 2


Reaction at A: 6R = 400 x 3 100 x 3 R = 150 kN
Design moments M* at B = 450 kNm, at C = 300 kNm

Assuming an o
m
value of 1.5, M* for AISC design capacity tables = 450/1.5 = 300 kNm
Effective length = 3 m, Required beam = 610UB101
|M
s
of 610UB101 = 782 kNm


Segment
AB BC CD
End Restraints PF FF FU
Length l (m) 3 3 3
k
t

1+
3
)
6 . 10 2
8 . 14
(
3000
572
x

= 1.065
1 1
k
l
1 1 2
k
r
1 1 1
l
e
(m) 3 x 1.065 = 3.2 3 x 1 = 3 3 x 2 = 6
M
o
(kNm) 1792 1993 570
o
s
0.788 0.810 0.470
o
m
1.75 |
m
=300/450 = 0.67,
so o
m
= 2.5
1.25
|M
b

= o
m
o
s
|M
s

1079>|M
s
of 782
so 782
1584>|M
s
of 782
so 782
459
M* (kNm) 450 450 300
Conclusion OK, but overdesign OK, but overdesign OK, but overdesign

400 kN
100 kN
Bending moment