Chapter 2: Structural Steel Beams

2.3 Section Properties of Built-Up Steel Sections

Description This document calculates the moment of inertia and section

modulus for a steel section that has at least one axis of symmetry
built-up from plates or from a combination of plates and sections
with known section properties. Any number of plates or sections
may be used.

Built-up sections are used when reinforcing existing members, as

plate girders, and for composite steel beams using bottom plates.
The application may also be used to calculate section properties
for non-standard T sections cut from I shaped members. The
properties of fillets or continuous welds may also be included
when required. The required input includes the overall depth of the
built-up section, plate dimensions (in the horizontal and vertical
directions) and the area and moment of inertia of any sections with
known properties making up the built-up section, and the
dimensions from the centroids of plates or sections to the bottom
of the built-up section.
Input
Notation

Input Enter depth of the built-up section, moments of inertia and areas of
Variables individual sections, horizontal and vertical dimensions of plates, and
distances from the centroids of individual plates and sections to the
bottom of the built-up section. Moments of inertia, areas, or plate
dimensions referring to a given section or plate must have the same
corresponding subscript number.

Depth of the
built-up section: d  170.8cm
4 4
I  4176cm I  4176cm
Moments of inertia 2 4
of individual sections:
2 2
A  104cm A  104cm
Areas of individual 2 4
sections:
h  40 cm h  35cm h  1.49cm h  35cm
Horizontal plate 0 1 3 5
dimensions:
h  30cm
6
Vertical plate
dimensions: v  2cm v  1.53cm v  163cm v  1.91cm
0 1 3 5
Distances from the
v  1.63cm
bottom of the built-up 6
section to area centroid
y  1cm y  2.765cm y  9.24cm y  85.03cm
of any sections or 0 1 2 3
plates:
y  160.82cm y  167.485cm y  169.255cm
4 5 6

Note  Section must be symmetrical about the vertical axis.

Computed The following variables are calculated in this document:
Variables

d depth of the built-up section

As cross section area of built-up section

Is moment of inertia of the built-up section

about the horizontal centroidal axis

St section modulus of the built-up section

about the horizontal centroidal axis
referred to the top of the section

Sb section modulus of the built-up section

about the horizontal centroidal axis
referred to the bottom of the section

yt dimension form the horizontal centroidal

axis to the top of the built-up section

yb dimension form the horizontal centroidal

axis to the bottom of the built-up section
Calculations Areas of all sections and plates:

i  0  last( y )

i 
A  if h = 0  cm A h  v
i i i i 
T 2
A  ( 80 54 104 243 104 67 49 ) cm
Moments of inertia of all sections and plates:

I  if h = 0  cm I   i 

1 3
h  v
i i i 12 i

T 4
I  ( 27 10 4176 537734 4176 20 11 ) cm

Area of the built-up section:

A
2
As  As  700 cm

Dimension form the horizontal centroidal axis to the bottom

of the built-up section:
A y
i i
y b 
 As
y b  83 cm
i
Dimension form the horizontal centroidal axis to the top of the
built-up section:

y t  d  y b y t  87.908 cm

Moment of inertia of the built-up section about the horizontal

centroidal axis:

 I   Aiyi  y  
2
Is  b

i
6 4
Is  3.466  10 cm
Section modulus of the built-up section about the horizontal
centroidal axis referred to the top of the built-up section:

Is
St 
yt

3
St  39432 cm
Section modulus of the built-up section about the horizontal
centroidal axis referred to the bottom of the built-up section:

Is
Sb 
yb

3
Sb  41818 cm