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Steel Structures - (Introduction) - 1

This document discusses steel structures and provides information on: 1) Early uses of iron and steel in construction dating back to 1779. Steel replaced wrought iron as the principal material after 1890. 2) Eight key advantages of steel as a structural material including its high strength, uniformity, elasticity, permanence, ductility, toughness, ability to add onto existing structures, and recyclability. 3) Five potential disadvantages of steel including corrosion if not protected, increased fireproofing costs, susceptibility to buckling, fatigue issues under repeated stress, and risk of brittle fracture under certain conditions.

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Ceren Şirin
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61 views

Steel Structures - (Introduction) - 1

This document discusses steel structures and provides information on: 1) Early uses of iron and steel in construction dating back to 1779. Steel replaced wrought iron as the principal material after 1890. 2) Eight key advantages of steel as a structural material including its high strength, uniformity, elasticity, permanence, ductility, toughness, ability to add onto existing structures, and recyclability. 3) Five potential disadvantages of steel including corrosion if not protected, increased fireproofing costs, susceptibility to buckling, fatigue issues under repeated stress, and risk of brittle fracture under certain conditions.

Uploaded by

Ceren Şirin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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STEEL STRUCTURES

REFERENCES

1) Structural Steel Design (Fifth Edition), Jack C. McCormac, Stephen F. Csernak


2) Steel Structures: Design and Behavior, Charles G. Salmon, John E. Johnson, Faris A. Malhas
3) Structural Steel Design, Abi Aghayere, Jason Vigil
4) Steel Structures: Behavior and LRFD, Sriramulu Vinnakota
5) Aydın R., Günaydın A., Çelik Yapılar-Tasarım Kuralları ve Uygulama Örnekleri,
Güncelleştirilmiş 3.Baskı, Birsen Yayınevi, 2017.

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EARLY USES OF IRON AND STEEL

• The first use of metal for a sizable structure occurred in England in Shropshire (about 140 miles
northwest of London) in 1779, when cast iron was used for the construction of the 100-ft (30m)
Coalbrookdale Arch Bridge over the River Severn. A number of other cast-iron bridges were constructed
in the following decades, but soon after 1840 the more malleable wrought iron began to replace cast iron.

• Steel is defined as a combination of iron and a small amount of carbon, usually less than 1 percent. It also
contains small percentages of some other elements. Since 1890, steel has replaced wrought iron as the
principal metallic building material.

ADVANTAGES OF STEEL AS A STRUCTURAL MATERIAL


1) High Strength

• The high strength of steel per unit of weight means that the weight of structures will be small. This
fact is of great importance for long-span bridges, tall buildings, and structures situated on poor
foundations.
2) Uniformity
• The properties of structural steel are uniform and homogeneous, and highly predictable. The
properties of steel do not change appreciably with time. 2
3) Elasticity
• Steel behaves closer to design assumptions than most materials because it follows Hooke’s law up to
fairly high stresses. The moments of inertia of a steel structure can be accurately calculated, while the
values obtained for a reinforced-concrete structure are rather indefinite.
4) Permanence
• Steel frames that are properly maintained will last indefinitely. Research on some of the newer steels
indicates that under certain conditions no painting maintenance whatsoever will be required.

5) Ductility
• The property of a material by which it can withstand extensive deformation without failure under high
stresses is its ductility.
• When a mild or low-carbon structural steel member is being tested in tension, a large amount of
elongation will occur at the point of failure before the actual fracture occurs.

• In structural members under normal loads, high stress concentrations develop at various points. The
ductile nature of the usual structural steels enables them to yield locally at those points, thus preventing
premature failures.
• A further advantage of ductile structures is that when overloaded, their large deflections give visible
evidence of impending failure.
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6) Toughness
• The ability of a material to absorb energy in large amounts is called toughness. Structural steels are
tough—that is, they have both strength and ductility. A steel member loaded until it has large
deformations will still be able to withstand large forces.

7) Additions to Existing Structures


• Steel structures are quite well suited to having additions made to them. New bays or even entire
new wings can be added to existing steel frame buildings, and steel bridges may often be widened.

8) Miscellaneous
Several other important advantages of structural steel are as follows:
(a) ability to be fastened together by several simple connection devices, including welds and bolts;
(b) adaptation to prefabrication;
(c) speed of erection;
(d) ability to be rolled into a wide variety of sizes and shapes,;
(e) possible reuse after a structure is disassembled;
(f) Steel is the ultimate recycable material.

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DISADVANTAGES OF STEEL AS A STRUCTURAL MATERIAL

1) Corrosion
• Most steels are susceptible to corrosion when freely exposed to air and water. In some of situations,
corrosion may be a real problem. For instance, corrosion-fatigue failures can occur where steel
members are subject to cyclic stresses and corrosive environments.
• Steels can be protected against to corrossion by painting them periodically.

• Copper can be used as an anti-corrosion component. The copper is usually absorbed during the
steelmaking process.
2) Fireproofing Costs

• Although structural members are incombustible, their strength is tremendously reduced at


temperatures commonly reached in fires when the other materials in a building burn.
• Steel is an excellent heat conductor. Nonfireproofed steel members may transmit enough heat from a
burning section or compartment of a building to ignite materials with which they are in contact in
adjoining sections of the building.
• As a result, the steel frame of a building may have to be protected by materials with certain
insulating characteristics, and the building may have to include a sprinkler system.
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3) Susceptibility to Buckling
• As the length and slenderness of a compression member is increased, its danger of buckling increases.
For most structures, the use of steel columns is very economical because of their high strength-to-
weight ratios. Occasionally, however, some additional steel is needed to stiffen them so they will not
buckle. This tends to reduce their economy.
4) Fatigue
• Strength of steel may be reduced if it is subjected to a large number of stress reversals or even to a large
number of variations of tensile stress.

5) Brittle Fracture
• Under certain conditions steel may lose its ductility, and brittle fracture may occur at places of stress
concentration. Fatigue-type loadings and very low temperatures aggravate the situation. Triaxial stress
conditions can also lead to brittle fracture.

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