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HowtoDesignaSteelBeam
byTomKujawa

Designingasteelbeamisnotascomplicatedasyoumaythink.Thereareessentially6Stepstodesignmoststeelbeams:

1.MaterialChoosetheappropriategradeofsteelforthebeamyouwillbedesigning.
2.ShapeSelecttheshapeofsteelbeamyouwouldliketodesign.
3.SpanEnterthedistanceyouaretryingtospan.
4.BracingNottobeoverlooked!Bracingiscriticalindeterminingthecapacityofabeam.
5.LoadEnterloadsbasedontheirtypeandloadcase.
6.DesignIntheUnitedStates,therearetwocommonmethodsofbeamdesign(ASDandLRFD).Selectthemethodyouwouldliketouseandspecify
deflectionlimits.

IntheWebStructuralbeamdesignapp(beamdesigner.html)eachofthesestepshasanassociatedicontoallowyoutoefficientlyworkthroughthedesign
process:

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1.Material
Therearemanydifferentgradesofsteel,butusuallyonecommongradeforeachshapetype.ThemostcommonlyusedtypeofSteelIBeamistheW(wide
flange)Shape.WShapesareusuallymadefromGradeA992steel.Forourexample,wewillbedesigningaWShapesteelIBeam,soweselectA992fromthe
MaterialList.

2.Shape
Therearemanytypesofsteelshapes,evennumeroustypesofIbeams.Forourexample,selectaW8X15.Thisbeamisroughly8"deep(ortall),thatisthefirst
numberfollowingthex.Thisbeamweighs15lbs.Thatisthesecondnumberintheshapename.Typically,thelighterthebeam,thelessitwillcost,sotodesign
themostcosteffectivebeam,youwillwanttochooseonethatweighstheleastbutmeetsyoudesigncriteria.Afterweenterallthedesigncriteria,wecan
changetheshapeifitisnottherightsizeforourdesign.

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3.Span
Spanisthedistancebetweenpointsofsupportforabeam.Abeamisoftenjustasinglespansupportedatbothend.However,that'snotalwaysthecase.
Beamscanbesupportedanywherealongtheirlengthortheycanbecantileverbeyondtheirendsupports.ToaddoreditspanlengthinWebStructural,simply
clicktheSpanbuttonorthespandimensionandaddaspantotheleftorright,thenadjustthelengthasappropriate.Forourexample,addaspantotheright
andmakeit4'0".Adjustthefirstspantoequal12'0".

SpansupportconditionscanalsobechangedinWebStructuralbysimplyclickingonasupport.ClikingthesupportwilltogglethroughPinned,Fixed,andFree
supportconditions.Forourexample,changetherightmostsupporttoFreetocreateacantilever.

4.Bracing
Bracingisanincrediblyimportant,yetoftenoverlookedaspectofbeamdesign.Whenamemberisbent,tensionandcompressionforcesareintroduced.Fora
simplespanbeam(onespanningbetweentwopinnedsupports),thetopofthebeamwillbeincompression.Itisthesecompressionforcesthatcancausea
beamtobuckledoutofplane.Tounderstandbuckling,thinkofcompressingashortrulerbetweenyourhands.Nowthinkofcompressing3'longruler.Which
onewillflexandbuckle?Clearlythelonger,moreslenderone.Itisthisslendernessthatisdirectlyrelatedtobuckling.Ifweareabletobraceabeamagainst
thistypeofbuckling,thenwecanoftenachievegreaterbendingstrength.WebStructuralallowsyoutospecifybracingsinmanydifferentcommon
configurations.Spansupportsareautomaticallyassumedtobebracinglocations.Remember,continuousbracingassumesthatthecompressionsideofthe
beamisbraced.Ifyouhaveacontinuousbeam,lookatyourmomentdiagraminthereporttoverifythatthisistrulythecase.Youcanalwaysconservatively
assumethebeamincompletelyunbraced.

5.Loads
LoadCases
Abeamcancarryloadsfrommanydifferentsources.BelowisalistofsomeofthemorecommontypesofLoadCases:

Deadloads(D)arethosewhicharealwayspresent.Thinkofaconcreteslab,ortheweightofawall.Thoseloadsarealwayspresentanddonotchange.

LiveLoads(L)aretypicallyoccupancytypeloads.YouareatypeofLiveLoadinthestructureyouareinrightnow.AmericanSocietyofCivilEngineers
publishesabook(ASCE7)withguidancefortheamountofliveloadthatshouldbeusedfordifferentstructures.

RoofLiveLoads(Lr)aresimilartoLiveLoads,butarespecifictotheroofandaretypicallyrelatedtoconstructionormaintenanceactivities.

SnowLoads(S)areexactlywanttheysoundlike,loadscausebysnow.Localbuildingcodesoftendictatetheappropriategroundordesignsnowloadstouse.
Thesearetypicallybasicloads.Driftandunbalancedconditionsshouldbeaccountedforasneeded.

OtherLoadsarelesscommoninbeamdesignbutcanincludeWind(W),SeimicorEarthquake(E),Rain(R),LateralEarth(H),etc.

LoadTypes
Beamscanbeloadedinmanyways,butmostloadingsthatcauseflexurecanbedescribedaseither:

UniformLoads:Theseloadshaveunitsofforceperunitlength.WithWebStructural,thedefaultunitsforUniformLoadsiskipsperfoot(1kip=1000lbs.).
Uniformloadsareoftenusedtosimplifyrepetitiveandcloselyspacedpointloadssuchasfloorjoistsorroofrafters.Tocalculatetheappropriateuniformloadto
applytoabeam,simplymultiplythebeamstributaryareabytheappropriateareaload.ArealoadsandotherstructuralloadsareestablishedbytheAmerican
SocietyofCivilEngineersASCE7documentandaregivenaspoundspersquarefoot(psf).

LinearLoads:LinearLoadsareverysimilartouniformloads,butratherthanhavingaconstantmagnitude,varyalongtheirlength.LinearLoadsalsohave
unitsofforceperlength.Linearloadscanbeusedtorepresenttriangularsnowdriftsorbeamswithjoistsframinginataskewedangle,ormanyothertriangular
andtrapezoidaltypeloading.

PointLoads:Pointloadshaveunitsofforce.ThedefaultinWebStructuralisKips(1kip=1000lbs.).Pointloadscanbeassimpleasareactionfromanother
membersuchasabeamframingintoanotherbeam,oracolumnsittingonabeam.

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Moments:Momentsareloadswhichcauserotationintheaxisofabeamandhaveunitsofforcetimeslength.ThedefaultinWebStructuraliskipfeet.Moments
aremorecomplextothoselessfamiliarwiththem,butconsideracolumnweldedtothetopofasteelbeam.Ifaforceisappliedtotopofthecolumn,itwillcause
thebeamitisattachedtobendaswell,justlikealever.Thisbendingtypereactionisamoment.Iftheforceisinthedirectionofthebeamaxis(orspan
direction),itcanbeinputasamomentinWebStructural.Iftheforceappliedisperpendiculartothebeamaxis,thenatorsionalmomentwillbeintroduced.
WebStructuraldoesnotcurrentlyallowfortorsionalloadstobeinput.

Forourexampleletsuseadeadloadof25psfandaliveloadof100psf.Let'ssaythenextpointofsupportfromourbeamisawall10'awayononeside,and
anotherbeam20'awayontheother.WewillenterauniformdeadloadD=.625k/ft=[25psfx(10'/2+20'/2)]/1000lb/kandalsoenterliveloadL=1.5k/ft
[100psfx(20'/2+30'/2)]/1000lb/k.Alsomakesuretoincludeselfweight.

LoadFactors
Dependingonwhichdesignmethodyouchoose,(seebelow)theloadsyouenterwillbefactoredappropriately.Simplyentertheservice(unfactored)loads.

6.Design
DesignMethod(ASDorLRFD)
StructuralsteelcaneitherbedesignedbyLoadandResistanceFactorDesign(LRFD)andAllowableStressDesign(ASD).Bothmethodsyieldsimilarresults.
Engineershavetheiropinionsabouttheprosandconsofeachmethod,butbotharecurrentlyallowedintheUnitedStates.Simplychoosethemethodyou
wouldliketouse.

DesignEquations
WebStructuralwillautomaticallyfactoryourloadsandapplythemintheappropriatedesignequations.Youcanviewtheseequationandexcludeonesyoudon't
wanttoincludeinanalysisifyouwish.

Deflection
Deflectionisanimportantmeasureofbeamperformance.Beamsthathaveexcessivedeflectioncanbestrongenoughtocarrytheirdesignloads,butperform
poorlyinservice.Excessivedeflectionscanleadtousercomplaintincludingbouncyfloors,crackedbuildingfinishes,instabilityformechanicalequipment,etc.
TheInternationalBuildingCode(IBC)dictatestheminimumdeflectionforvariousmembersandloadtypes.DeflectionsaretypicallydescribedasaratioorL
(span)oversomevaluetoallowforcomparisonandstandardization.Example:Thedeflectionratiofor0.5"delectionina12'beamequalsL/288=12ftx12in/ft
(span)0.5"(deflection).Nowconsiderabeamthatdeflects0.75"andis18'long.IthasanequivalentdeflectionratioorL/288.Intheory,thesebeamshavethe
samedeflectionperformanceeventhoughthelongerspanbeamhasagreaterdeflection.Thatisbecausethedeflectionislessnoticeableoverthegreater
distance.L/100isoftenconsideredtobenearthelimitofdeflectionthatisdetectabletothehumaneye.L/360isusuallyconsideredaminimumaccepatlbe
deflectionduetoliveloadsonfloors,butthatisjustaminimum.

Reporting

Onceyouhaveinputallofyourcriteria,allyouhavetodoitclick"DesignThisBeam".WebStructuralwillperformafiniteelementanalysisforyourspecificbeam
span,supportandloadingconditions.ItwilldeterminethedesignforcesandcalculatethedesigncapacitiesofthebeamusingtheAmericanInstituteofSteel
Construction(AISC)standards.Ifyouoriginallyselectedanappropriatebeamsize,youwillseealotofgreenandbending,shear,anddeflectioncapacityratios
willbelessthan1.0.Thesevaluesareapercentageofcapacity.Soifyourreportreads"Bending0.79"thebeamconfigurationyouselectedisat79%offlexural
capacity(accordingtoAISC).

Ifyourreportisred,thenyourcapacityratiosaregreaterthan1.0andthebeamdoesnotmeetthedesigncriteria.Thismeansyouneedabiggerbeam!Simply
chooseadifferentshapeandclick"DesignThisBeam".

AtWebStructuralwestrivetogiveyouhighqualitydesigncalculationswithtransparentreportsthatyoucanrelyon.Ifyoufoundthishowtousefulpleaseshare
itwithyourcolleagues.

Finally,weencourageyoutokeepcheckingbackforupdates,andletusknowifyouhaveanysuggestionsorrequests.(mailto:team@webstructural.com)

HappyEngineering,

TheWebStructuralTeam

WebStructural2016

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