STRUCTURAL STEEL SHAPES

Welcome to a discussion on C &

BasedMConshapes
AISC manual 13th
edition.

~-~-~ Presented by Viji Anto & Team~-~-~

 INTRODUCTI
ON
Structural steel is one of the basic materials commonly used
in structures, such as industrial and commercial buildings,
bridges, and piers. It is produced in a wide range of shapes
and grades, which permits great flexibility in its usage. It is
relatively inexpensive to manufacture and is the strongest
and most versatile material available to the construction
industry.
AISC manual 13th edition classifies the structural steel shapes generally into,
I shapes - W, M, S & HP
Channels - C & MC Shapes
Tee sections - WT, MT & ST Shapes
Angles -
Hollow Structural Sections & Pipe
Shapes

Our discussion today focuses

Channels
on - C & MC Shapes
C Introduction
SHAPES
As the name suggests C channels have a shape similar to
alphabet “C”. The shape is unsymmetrical with a web, 2
flanges at top and bottom projecting to one of the sides & the
other side is flat in the cross section.

üAlso called American standard channels

üCommon, Standard & readily available with most of the

manufacturers.
üRolled with a constant inner flange surface slope of 2 on 12

C channel is designated as C<nominal depth,

in.>X<nominal weight, lbs/ft>
Where nominal depth is the overall depth of the member
rounded of to a whole number in inches & nominal weight is
the weight of the cross section in Lbs/ft.

For dimensions & properties refer

C SHAPES Dimensions &
properties
Reference: Table 1-5
AISC Manual 13th Edition.

Dimensio
Area Depth Thickness Width
Average
k T
ns rts h0
thickness Work-
able
Shape
A d tw tw/2 bf tf gage

in2 in in in in in in in in in in
C3X3.5 1.09 3.0 3 0.132 1/8 1/16 1.37 1”3/8 0.273 1/4 11/16 1”5/8 - 0.455 2.73

C15X50 14.7 15.0 15 0.716 11/16 3/8 3.72 3”3/4 0.650 5/8 1”7/16 12”1/8 2”1/4 1.17 14.4
Propertie
s
Shear
Axis X-X Axis Y-Y Torsional properties
Nomina centre
l wt
e0 I S r Z I S r x Z xp J Cw r0 H
Lb/ft in in4 in3 in in3 in4 in3 in in in3 in in4 In6 in
3.5 0.493 1.57 1.04 1.20 1.24 0.169 0.182 0.394 0.443 0.364 0.296 0.0226 0.276 1.57 0.645

50 0.583 404 53.8 5.24 68.5 11.0 3.77 0.865 0.799 8.14 0.490 2.65 492 5.49 0.937
 General nomenclature used in Table -5 & Table -6 of AISC
manual 13th edn.
A – Area of cross section (in2)

d – Overall depth of the member (in)

tw – thickness of web (in)

bf - width of flange (in)

tf – thickness of flange (in)

k – Distance from outer flange of flange to web toe of fillet

(in)
T – Distance between web toes of fillets at top and at bottom
of web (in)
rts – Effective radius of gyration (in)

h0 – distance between the flange centroids (in)

e0 – Shear centre (in)

I – Moment Of Inertia (in4)

 General nomenclature used in Table -5 & Table -6 of AISC
manual 13th edn.
S – Elastic section modulus(in3)

r – radius of gyration (in)

x – Horizontal distance from outer edge of a channel web to

its centroid (in)
Z – Plastic section modulus(in3)

PNA – Plastic neutral axis

xp – Horizontal distance from the designated edge of member

to its plastic neutral axis (in)

J – Torsional constant (in4)

Cw – Warping constant (in6)

r0 – Polar radius of gyration about the shear center (in)

H – Flexural constant
MC Introduction
SHAPES
MC or Miscellaneous channels (similar to C channel) have a
shape similar to alphabet “C”. The shape is unsymmetrical
with a web, 2 flanges at top and bottom projecting to one of
the sides & the other side is flat in the cross section.

üAlso called ship / car channel

üNon standard channels & not readily available with all the

manufacturers.
ü the inner-flange slope of MC-shapes will vary from

manufacturer to manufacturer
MC is designated as MC<nominal depth, in.>X<nominal
weight, lbs/ft>
Where nominal depth is the overall depth of the member
rounded of to a whole number in inches & nominal weight is
the weight of the cross section in Lbs/ft.
For dimensions & properties refer
MC Dimensions &
SHAPES properties
Reference: Table 1-6
AISC Manual 13th Edition.

Dimensio
Area Depth Thickness Width
Average
k T
ns rts h0
thickness Work-
able
Shape
A d tw tw/2 bf tf gage

in2 in in in in in in in in in in
MC3X7.1 2.11 3.0 3 0.312 5/16 3/16 1.94 2 0.351 3/8 13/16 1”3/8 - 0.657 2.65
-
MC18X5
8
17.1 18.0 18 0.700 11/16 3/8 Propertie
4.20 4”1/4 0.625 5/8 1”7/16 15”1/8 2”1/2 1.35 17.4

Shear s
centre
Axis X-X Axis Y-Y Torsional properties
Nominal
wt
e0 I S r Z I S r x Z xp J Cw r0

Lb/ft in in4 in3 in in3 in4 in3 in in in3 in in4 In6 in

7.1 0.574 2.72 1.81 1.14 2.24 0.666 0.518 0.562 0.653 0.998 0.414 0.0928 0.915 1.76

58 0.695 675 75.0 6.29 95.4 17.6 5.28 1.02 0.862 10.7 0.474 2.81 1070 6.56
 MILL TOLERANCES FOR C & MC
SHAPES

a A is measured at centerline of web for beams & at back of web for channels
b T + T’ applies when flanges of channels are toed in or out
 MILL TOLERANCES FOR C & MC
SHAPES

Indicates that there is no requirement

The permitted variation under the specified length is 0 in for all lengths.
c
There are no requirements for lengths over 65 ft.
The tolerances specified herein are taken from ASTM A6 and apply to the
straightness of members received from the rolling mill, measured as
d
illustrated in Figure 1-1. For tolerance on induced camber & sweep, see Code
of standard practice section 6.4.4.
APPLICABLE ASTM SPECIFICATIONS FOR C & MC SHAPES

Preferred material
specification

Other applicable material

specification, the
availability of which
should be confirmed
prior to specification.

Material specification
does not apply.
APPLICATIONS OF C & MC SHAPES IN THE STRUCTURAL STEEL
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
Neither type of shape is very commonly used in structural
steel applications for buildings, but the c-shapes may be a
little more common. This is mainly due to the cross sectional
asymmetry of the section which makes it a back seater when
structural properties are the consideration.
Asymmetry, slenderness & buckling makes it less favorable for
axial loading
Relatively lesser resistance to torsion & warping makes the
channels less favorable for transverse loading.

But it can be can be advantageous in various situations:

Channels can be used at floor / roof openings, as stair stringer,

door header, door jamb etc by taking advantage of the fact
that one of its sides along the major axis is a flat surface.

Channels are also used as Platform beams, landing beams,

girts, purlins & other light weight applications.

Channels are widely used in built-up sections resisting

transverse or axial load
Than
k you

Viji Anto