Joining Forces

AISCs Steel Design Specifications Merge in 2005

By Cynthia J. Duncan

T
I

he new 2005 unified design specification for structural steel buildings will combine individual ASD and LRFD specifications with one document. The document is on schedule for completion in early 2005, and will replace the two existing AISC building design specifications: the 1989 Specification for Structural Steel Buildings-Allowable Stress Design (ASD) and Plastic Design and the 1999 Load and Resistance Factor Design Specification (LRFD) for Structural Steel Buildings. It also will replace the two AISC special-member design specifications, the 2000 Load and Resistance Factor Design Specification for Steel Hollow Structural Sections, and the 2000 Load and Resistance Factor Design Specification for Single-Angle Members. This means that all HSS and single-angle member and connectiondesign provisions will be incorporated into the 2005 specification. The organization of the combined specifications is very similar to the existing individual specifications to ease the transition to the new document. continued next page

Its No Longer ASD vs. LRFD

By Jason Ericksen, Senior Advisor, Steel Solutions Center n 2005, AISC will issue a new specification for structural steel buildings that will supersede both of the existing specifications (Allowable Stress Design and Load & Resistance Factor Design). This new unified specification will reflect the current state of engineering knowledge and allow engineers to use either factored loads or service loads in their calculations. As Louis Geschwindner, AISC Vice President of Engineering and Research, said: There is no intention to phase out ASD. As long as ASCE 7 has service-load combinations, there will be ASD design procedures. Rightly or wrongly, when the LRFD Specification was introduced in 1986, it was widely viewed as a difficult design methodology foisted on the industry by the academic community. The new unified specification should avoid those difficulties if for no other reason than that more than two-thirds of the current Committee on Specifications, including the current chair, comes from either the design community or fabrication industry. According to Geschwindner, the new specification: is practice oriented. provides economical designs. meets the engineering requirement of providing safe designs with predictable behavior and response. A key reason that ASD often was viewed as easier than LRFD (besides the obvious factors of familiarity and resistance to change) is that the current ASD Specification essentially is unchanged since 1961. If AISC had never introduced LRFD but had instead simply updated ASD design procedures, then ASD would look a lot like LRFD. In discussing this issue, Geschwindner often relates the story of the designer who stated that If I have to do leaning columns in LRFD then Im going to use ASD. But steel doesnt know whether youre using LRFD or ASDand there are still leaning columns! The limit states for both methods are the sameand always have been. And you can easily look at using stress as opposed to member strength: If you follow the math, allowable bending stress is (Z /S )*0.6Fy. If (Z /S) is taken as 1.1, as was done in the ASD Specification, then the allowable bending stress would be 0.66Fy as it is in the 1989 ASD Specification and has been since 1961. And a designer could certainly continue to use that value.

June 2004 Modern Steel Construction

F y = 50 ksi P n = F cr A g c = 1.67 c = 0.90

Table 4-2. W-Shapes Available Strength in Axial Compression, kips P n / c (ASD) c P n (LRFD)
W14x 120 ASD LRFD 99 109 90 82 74 ASD LRFD ASD LRFD ASD LRFD ASD LRFD ASD LRFD
960 932 925 918 904 889 875 861 847 826 812 1440 1398 1387 1376 1355 1334 1313 1292 1271 1239 1218 875 847 840 833 819 812 798 784 769 748 734 1313 1271 1260 1249 1228 1218 1196 1175 1154 1122 1101 798 776 762 755 748 734 727 713 698 684 668 1196 1165 1144 1133 1122 1101 1091 1069 1047 1026 1003 979 955 930 903 877 720 677 662 645 627 607 585 563 539 515 490 1080 1015 993 968 940 911 878 844 809 772 735 654 615 601 586 570 551 532 511 490 467 445 422 399 376 352 330 286 244 208 179 156 137 121 108 97.4 87.5 982 922 902 879 854 827 797 767 735 701 667 633 598 563 528 494 429 365 311 268 234 205 182 162 146 131

Shape Wt/ft Design

0 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40
y

1059 1031 1024 1009 995 981 967 953 932 911 896

1588 1546 1535 1514 1493 1472 1451 1429 1398 1366 1345

Effective length KL (ft) with respect to least radius of gyration r

n g i s e d r o f t o n
875 854 833 805 784 1313 1281 1249 1207 1175 791 769 748 727 706 1186 1154 1122 1091 1059 998 931 863 795 728 720 700 681 662 643 1080 1049 1022 993 965 904 843 780 719 658 653 637 620 602 584 464 439 414 388 363 697 659 620 582 544 734 686 637 587 538 1101 1029 955 881 807 735 665 598 537 484 666 620 575 530 486 603 562 520 479 438 548 510 473 435 398 822 766 709 652 597 314 268 229 197 172 471 402 343 295 257 490 443 399 358 323 443 400 359 323 291 664 600 539 484 436 399 361 323 290 262 598 541 485 435 393 361 327 293 263 237 542 490 439 394 356 151 133 119 107 96.7 227 200 179 160 145

include simplified shear-lag criteria for determining the effective area in a new tabulated format. The other remaining member-design chapters contain several revisions. Chapter F, Design of Members for Flexure, has expanded in length with the addition of hollow structural section and single-angle provisions. However, it is helpful to note that the user need not go past Section F2 if designing the typical, compact wideflange shape. Other notable revisions to member design are in Chapter I, where Design of Composite Members has been reorganized and updated extensively to reflect recent research, higher-strength materials, and consistency with ACI 318. The usual bolt, weld, and general connectiondesign provisions remain in Chapter J, and a new Chapter K addresses only HSS and box-member connection-design provisions. The concentrated-force provisions have been relocated to Chapter J. Some revisions in Chapter J include new block shear rupture criteria, improved details for weld-access holes, and revised slip-strength calculations for slip-critical connections.

User Notes Added

Other important features of the new specification are found in the appendices and User Notes. The appendices are intended to contain less frequently used criteria, including Design for Fatigue, Evaluation and Repair, and a new appendix on Structural Design for Fire Conditions. The latter provides a more performance-oriented approach to design for fire than the traditional prescriptive methods used in the building code. The User Notes are brief commentaries interspersed throughout the text that supplement the historical Commentary that follows the specification. They provide concise, practical guidance to assist the user when applying the provisions.

Properties P wo , kips P wi , kips/in. P wb , kips P fb , kips L p , ft L r , ft A g , in. 2 I x , in. 4 I y , in. 4 r y , in. Ratio r x /r y P ex (KL 2)/104 P ey (KL 2)/104

151 19.7 331 176 13.2 46.2 35.3

227 29.5 497 264

128 17.5 233 147 13.2 43.2 32.0

192 26.3 349 220

111 16.2 184 121 13.5 40.6 29.1

167 24.3 275 181

96 14.7 137 100 15.1 38.4 26.5 999 362 3.70 1.66

144 22.0 205 150

123 17.0 213 145 8.76 29.5 24.0 881 148 2.48 2.44

185 25.5 320 218

103 15.0 226 154

155 22.5 339 231 8.76 27.9 21.8 795 134 2.48 2.44

1380 495 3.74 1.67 39500 14200

1240 447 3.73 1.67 35500 12800

1110 402 3.71 1.66 31800 11500

28600 10400

25200 4240

22800 3840

Flanges are non-compact; See AISC Specification Section B4.

Example of column table for the next manual, using draft provisions of the 2005 Specification. ASD design values will be shaded in green, and LRFD design values will be shown in blue. Member design tables are for Fy = 50 ksi.

Expanded Scope
The new unified format of the 2005 specification is the most visible change, incorporating both ASD and LRFD methods into one specification. The document begins with a substantial revision: an expanded scope in Chapter A will affect the applicability of the entire document by stating that the specification sets forth criteria for the design of structural steel buildings and other structures. Chapter B provides a roadmap to help the user

locate specific provisions in the specification. Chapter C handles the stability provisions of the overall structure, and incorporates new analysis provisions, including a direct-analysis method using notional loads and K = 1.

Availability
The final, ANSI-accredited AISC Specification for Structural Steel Buildings will be introduced in 2005 in conjunction with a completely updated Manual of Steel Construction. The Manual will provide the discussion, tables, and design aids that the user will need to make the most of the new specification. # Cynthia Duncan is AISCs Director of Specifications.

Member Design
Chapters D through I cover memberdesign provisions, and Chapter J covers connection-design provisions. Chapter D, Design of Members for Tension, will

Modern Steel Construction June 2004