DESIGN OF STEEL STRUCTURE
1ST ASSIGNMENT SOLUTION
1. Explain Advantages and Disadvantages of Steel Structures.
1) Advantages
- High strength-to-weight: Very high <keyword>strength-to-weight ratio</keyword> → lighter
members, longer spans, reduced foundation loads.
- Speed: Offsite <keyword>prefabrication</keyword>, fast erection, dry construction; good for
tight schedules and urban sites.
- Ductility and toughness: Excellent <keyword>ductility</keyword> and energy dissipation →
seismic robustness; predictable plastic behavior.
- Quality control: Mill-made, standardized <keyword>sections</keyword>; tight tolerances;
easy inspection and repair.
- Adaptability: Bolted/welded connections allow modification, relocation, vertical expansion.
- Recyclability: High <keyword>recyclability</keyword> rate; circular economy compatibility.
- Long spans: Efficient trusses/space frames; minimal depth for roofs/bridges.
- Construction logistics: Lightweight components reduce hoisting demands; fewer wet trades;
site cleanliness.
- Integration: Easy MEP penetrations and hanging loads; composite action with concrete
(e.g., <keyword>composite beams</keyword>).
- Foundation economy: Reduced dead load can lower foundation size/cost in poor soils.
- Consistency: Isotropic material behavior; well-characterized design data and mature
<keyword>design codes</keyword>.
- Demountability: Bolted systems enable reuse; supports <keyword>Design for
Deconstruction</keyword>.
- Tolerance to temperature cycling: Better than concrete for thermal strain cracking;
predictable expansion.
2) Disadvantages
- Fire performance: Poor inherent <keyword>fire resistance</keyword>; requires fireproofing
(intumescent coatings, encasement) → added cost/maintenance.
- Corrosion: Susceptible to <keyword>corrosion</keyword> in aggressive environments;
needs coatings, cathodic protection, detailing to avoid water traps.
- Buckling sensitivity: Slender members prone to <keyword>buckling</keyword> (local/global,
lateral-torsional) → bracing, compact sections, stricter fabrication tolerances.
- Fatigue: Prone to <keyword>fatigue</keyword> under cyclic loads (bridges, cranes); detail
category limits, inspection regime.
- Thermal movement: Higher <keyword>thermal expansion</keyword> than concrete/timber;
requires movement joints and detailing.
- Cost volatility: Steel prices can be more volatile; market-dependent procurement risk.
- Noise/vibration: Lighter floors may have serviceability issues (acoustic, vibration) without
damping/composite slabs.
- Fireproofing maintenance: Protective systems degrade; inspection and lifecycle upkeep
needed.
2
2. Explain differences between working stress and limit state method of design of steel
structures.
Assumptions:
Steel behaves linearly elastic up to yield for service-level discussion.
Codes referenced: traditional Working Stress Method (WSM/ASD) and modern Limit State
Method (LSM/LRFD) per typical steel codes.
Loads considered: dead, live, wind; variability addressed in LSM via load factors.
Basis
WSM: Deterministic, elastic design; stresses limited to permissible (allowable) values:
Σ
Service
≤
Σ
Allowable
Σ
Service
≤σ
Allowable
.
LSM: Probabilistic, ultimate strength; capacity vs factored loads; design uses partial factors:
Γ
F
Γ
F
(loads),
Γ
M
Γ
M
(materials), checks both ULS and SLS.
Safety format
WSM: Single global factor of safety on stress (e.g., allowable = yield/FS).
LSM: partial safety factors, different for load types and materials:
Resistance
≥
Effect of factored loads
Resistance≥Effect of factored loads.
Load level
WSM: Service (unfactored) loads govern; no explicit load amplification.
LSM: Factored (amplified) combinations, e.g.,
3
1.2
G
+
1.6
Q
1.2G+1.6Q; variability embedded via
Γ
F
Γ
F
.
Material behavior
WSM: Purely elastic analysis; ignores post-yield redistribution; section stresses capped.
LSM: Allows inelastic behavior and plastic design; uses characteristic strength
F
Y
F
Y
With
Γ
M
Γ
M
; accounts for ductility and redistribution.
Checks required
WSM: Primarily stress check; serviceability indirectly ensured by conservative allowable
stresses.
LSM: Two explicit limit states:
ULS: strength, stability, fatigue (where applicable).
SLS: deflection, vibration, crack width (for composite), local buckling under service.
Economy
WSM: Conservative; often heavier sections due to global FS and elastic cap.
LSM: More economical; tailored factors yield closer-to-reality capacities.
Reliability basis
WSM: Implicit reliability, no target reliability index.
LSM: Calibrated to target reliability (β); code factors derived statistically.
Detailing/second-order
WSM: May under-account instability; elastic approach can miss P–Δ effects unless added
separately.
LSM: Explicit stability checks; uses second-order analysis and slenderness/imperfection
factors within ULS.
Connection design
4
WSM: Allowable stresses in bolts/welds under service loads.
LSM: Factored load effects; resistances with
Γ
M
Γ
M
; ductility requirements explicit.
Nomenclature equivalence
WSM ≈ Allowable Stress Design (ASD).
LSM ≈ Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD).
Typical equations
WSM:
Σ
Service
≤
F
Y
FS
Σ
Service
≤
FS
F
Y
.
LSM (ULS):
R
D
=
R
k
γ
m
≥
S
d
R
d
=
5
γ
m
R
k
≥S
d
with
S
d
S
d
from
∑
γ
f
Load
k
∑γ
f
Load
k
.
Applicability
WSM: Legacy structures, simple members, preliminary sizing.
LSM: Modern codes; complex systems, reliability-based compliance.