Bangladesh Steel Re-Rolling Mills Ltd.

Report on

Requirement of Rolled Steel W Shapes

for Multistoried Steel Building in
Bangladesh

Prepared by
Dr. Khan Mahmud Amanat
Professor, Dept. of Civil Engg., BUET
December 2014
Rev. 02

Executive Summary
Bangladesh Steel Re-rolling Mills Ltd. (BSRM) is installing a rolling mill to
produce structural steel shapes good for construction of multistoried steel buildings in
Bangladesh. Before initiating the production of rolled steel shapes, it is essential to
assess the possible requirements of sizes and dimensions of structural steel shapes,
more specifically wide flange shapes (W shapes), which may be more in demand than
other shapes. With this objective, a detailed numerical finite element study has been
performed on several typical steel building models ranging from 10 storied to 25
storied configurations suitable for Dhaka City. Based on the investigation it has been
found that up to 20-storied buildings, the structural framing can be managed with rolled
W-shapes of depth 16 inch (406 mm) or lower. For a 25 storied building, except for a
few column elements at lower floors, most of the members can be managed with rolled
shapes having depth 16 inch or lower. For the columns of lower floors of 25 storied
building, built-up sections can be a solution. Type of floor system does not have any
effect of the framing requirement of the main structural framing system consisting of
columns, girders (beams connecting the columns) and bracings. When only floor
systems are compared, open-web joist system can achieve about 25% ~ 30% economy
in steel material compared to steel profile deck system. Solid concrete composite slab
system can achieve about 20% ~ 25% economy. However, issues like cost of fabrication,
quality control and additional lead time required should also be taken into
consideration before making final decision about the floor system. When overall steel
material requirement is compared, open-web joist system can achieve about 9%
economy. In such a case, solid concrete composite slab may achieve about 8% economy.
Thus the difference in material economy between solid concrete composite slab and
open-web joist system is marginal. The average weight of structural steel has been
found to vary between 76 kg/m2 to 109 kg/m2 for 10 to 25 storied buildings
respectively depending on type of floor system used. In this study, floor-to-floor height
has been assumed as 12 ft (3.66m). If floor height is reduced to 11 ft (3.35m) then an
additional 3~4% overall economy in material may be achieved.

Table of Contents
Page
1.

INTRODUCTION

2.

SCOPE OF STUDY

2.1 Steel Shape

2.2 Material

2.3 Maximum Size of W Shapes

3.

CODES AND STANDARDS

4.

LOADING

4.1 Dead Loads

4.2 Live Load

4.3 Wind Load

4.4 Earthquake Load

GENERAL BUILDING CONFIGUARTION

5.1 Plan Area

5.2 Frame Grid Pattern

5.3 Stairs and Lifts

5.4 Floor System

5.

6.

5.4.1

Concrete Filled Profiled Composite Steel Deck on W-Shaped Floor Beams

5.4.2

Solid Concrete Composite Slab on W-Shaped Floor Beams

5.4.3

Concrete Slab on Open-Web Joists

5.5 Data for Floor Systems

5.6 Lateral Load Resisting Elements

5.7 Number of Storeys and FLoor Height

FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS

6.1 Modeling

6.2 Analysis and Design

Rev. 02

Page i

7.

8.

STRUCTURAL SHAPE REQUIREMENTS

10

7.1 Columns

10

7.2 Girders

12

7.3 Floor Beams

14

7.4 Bracings

14

7.5 Overall Material Requirement

15

CONCLUSIONS

17

Rev. 02

Page ii

1.

INTRODUCTION
Bangladesh Steel Re-rolling Mills Ltd. (BSRM) is installing a rolling mill to

produce structural steel shapes good for construction of multistoried steel

buildings in Bangladesh. Before initiating the production of rolled steel shapes, it is
essential to assess the possible requirements of sizes and dimensions of structural
steel shapes, more specifically wide flange shapes (W shapes), which may be more
in demand than other shapes. This report represents a brief study and investigation
carried out to assess the W shape requirement for multistoried buildings in the
context of Bangladesh and more specifically for the capital Dhaka city.

2.

SCOPE OF STUDY

2.1

STEEL SHAPE
A steel building requires steel sections of various sizes and shapes which

include angles, tees, channels and the more common wide flange shapes (W
shapes). In a typical steel building, the main load carrying structural frame
elements, e.g. columns and beams etc., usually consists of W shapes. Therefore, the
present study has been confined to the investigation of required W shapes.
2.2

MATERIAL
While the 36 grade A36 steel (Fy = 36 ksi or 250 MPa) has been the most

common material for the last few decades, higher strength steel like ASTM A572
grade 50 steel (Fy = 50 ksi or 345 MPa) are now becoming more commonplace.
Grade 50 steel provides higher strength and more economy than the vintage A36
steel. In this study Grade 50 steel has been the chosen material.
2.3

MAXIMUM SIZE OF W SHAPES

Presently, due to the limitation of proposed the rolling mill, the maximum

achievable depth of the rolled section is about 406mm or 16 inch. Therefore, this
study is also confined with the W shapes having maximum depth of 16 inch or
Rev. 02

Page 1

about 406mm. Within this limitation, the W shapes contained in the AISC Steel
Construction Manual 13th Edition has been included in the study.

3.

CODES AND STANDARDS

It is expected that the updated and revised version of Bangladesh National

Building Code namely BNBC 2010 shall be published soon. Therefore, in the present
study, the provisions of the BNBC 2010 has been adopted. In addition, the
provisions of AISC Specification 2005 is also considered.

4.

LOADING
A rational estimation of loading is very important in such a study involving

building analysis and design. In the present study, the assumed loads are discussed
below.
4.1

DEAD LOADS
Dead loads (D) are those gravity loads which remain acting on the structure

permanently without any change during the structures normal service life. These
are basically the loads coming from the weight of the different components of the
structure. For the sake of convenience in the analysis, sometimes this kind of loads
are divided into two types, namely a) self weight of the structure (SW) and b) the
weight coming from the non-structural permanent components of the building
(DL). In buildings, the weight of floors, beams, columns etc. which form the main
structural system is considered as the self weight (SW). The weights of floor finish,
partition walls and other non-structural permanent components generally
constitute the rest of the total dead load. In this study, following are the values of
dead loads considered in the present analysis.
Reinforced concrete unit weight =

150 lb/ft3 (2400 kg/m3)

Plain concrete unit weight =

120 lb/ft3 (1920 kg/m3)

Floor finish (FF) =

25 lb/ft2 (1.2 kN/m2)

Rev. 02

Page 2

Partition wall load=

4.2

60 lb/ft2 (2.87 kN/m2)

LIVE LOAD
Live load is the gravity load coming from the non-permanent objects like

furniture, human etc. The value of this load has been taken as 60 lb/ft2 (2.87
kN/m2)
4.3

WIND LOAD
Bangladesh is typically a storm prone area where due consideration to the

thrust due to storm must be given in the analysis and design of building and
structures. Wind load due to storm is typically modeled as lateral thrust force
tending to cause sway or overturning of the building. Detailed specifications on
wind loading on buildings are outlined in BNBC. The present project is located in
central Dhaka for which the following basic parameters are used in wind load
calculation,

4.4

Basic wind speed, Vb=

65 m/s (145 mph) 3-sec. gust.

Exposure category =

A (urban area)

Structure Importance coefficient =

1.0

EARTHQUAKE LOAD
Proper structural design of any building structure must include loads due to

earthquake shaking. For earthquake resistant structural design, it is essential that

the specific design code be followed. In the current project, Equivalent Static Force
Method of BNBC (2010) is followed for the general design of the building. The
specific parameters relevant for the study are as follows,
Site Class:

SD

Seismic Zone co-efficient:

0.2

Structure Importance Factor:

1.0

Rev. 02

Page 3

Building Type:

Steel Moment Frame

Response Modification Factor:

6.0

Seismic Design Category:

Seismic Design Type:

IMF

5.

GENERAL BUILDING CONFIGUARTION

5.1

PLAN AREA
The study aims at assessing the general W shape requirement for common

commercial type of building construction in Dhaka City. In Dhaka City, typical

commercial plots are generally of the size of 12 katha (803 m2) to 20 katha (1338
m2). Considering the RAJUK requirements and rules, typical area of a floor of such a
building shall range between 4000 sq.ft (372 m2) to 8000 sq.ft (744 m2). Therefore,
the building models studied in this investigation typically have floor areas in this
range.
5.2

FRAME GRID PATTERN

Since this is more of a theoretical study, a regular and rectangular plan grid

pattern for columns has been followed. In a typical commercial building, the column
grid pattern is generally governed by car parking requirements. According to
RAJUK rules, the minimum clear gap between columns shall be 15-8 (4.78 m) for
two cars and 23-0 (7.01 m) for three cars. Considering the column size and
cladding, the most practical center-to-center spacing between columns may be 180 x 26-0 (4.78m x 7.01m). In the present study, this basic column grid spacing has
been adopted.
With the above basic grid pattern, two types of plans are considered, (a) a 3span by 3-bay floor having overall 54 x 78 = 4212 sq.ft (392 m2) plan area and (b)
4-span by 4-bay floor having overall 72 x 104 = 7488 sq.ft (696 m2) plan area.

Rev. 02

Page 4

5.3

STAIRS AND LIFTS

Two stairs (one regular and one emergency) and three lifts has been

considered in the plan of the buildings studied.

5.4

FLOOR SYSTEM
A commercial steel building can have many different types of floor systems.

Presently the following three are most popular,

Concrete Filled Profiled Composite Steel Deck on W-Shaped Floor Beams

Solid Concrete Composite Slab on W-Shaped Floor Beams

Concrete Slab on Open-Web Joists.

There are some other proprietary composite open-web joist systems as well like
Hambro Composite Open-Web joist, Vulcraft system etc.
5.4.1 Concrete Filled Profiled Composite Steel Deck on W-Shaped Floor
Beams
A typical example of profiled steel deck floor system are shown in Fig.1
below.

Fig.1 5.4.1

Rev. 02

Concrete Filled Profiled Composite Steel Deck

Page 5

This type of floor system is very common despite the fact that this is not the
most economical type. Some advantages of such floor system is greater durability,
flexible design, easy on-site handling, speedy and safe construction, easier quality
control, greater reliability etc. which sometimes become more important that just
economy. In this type of floor system, the concrete generally requires only
temperature and shrinkage reinforcement. Typical amount of such concrete
reinforcing steel is of the order of about 4.0 kg/m2 of floor area.
5.4.2 Solid Concrete Composite Slab on W-Shaped Floor Beams
A typical example of solid concrete composite floor system are shown in
Fig.2 below.

Isometric

Typical section
Fig.2 Solid Concrete Composite Slab

Solid RC composite deck is another popular option for floor system in steel
structure and generally yields better economy that the profile deck system in terms
of material requirement. However, such construction requires separate removable
formwork which may be labor and time intensive. At the same time, more intensive
quality control measures must be enforced at site to ensure the safety and
reliability. The reinforced concrete slab also needs structural reinforcement.
Typical amount of such concrete reinforcing steel is of the order of about 8.0 kg/m2
of floor area.
Rev. 02

Page 6

5.4.3 Concrete Slab on Open-Web Joists

Open-web joists supporting concrete slabs is by far the most economical of
all types floor systems in terms of material requirement which are in general use in
steel buildings. A typical example of open-web system is shown in Fig.3

Fig.3 Open-web Joist System.

The principal advantage of open-web joist system is its economy compared to the
other systems. Another big advantage is that on extra space is required for utility
services e.g. plumbing and air conditioning ducts which helps reducing the overall
floor height. Reduction in floor height ultimately results in economy in the overall
frame design. On the other hand, high level of quality control measures are needed
to ensure the proper fabrication of the joists which also involve welding process.
Fabrication of joists may also require additional lead time. The reinforced concrete
slab also needs structural reinforcement. Typical amount of such concrete
reinforcing steel is of the order of about 10.0 kg/m2 of floor area.

Rev. 02

Page 7

5.5

DATA FOR FLOOR SYSTEMS

In the present investigation all the three types of floor system described in

the preceding paragraphs are considered. For the concrete filled profiled deck, it is
assumed that the deck is supported and integrally connected by means of shear
studs on W shaped floor beams. The deck material is 1.4 mm thick steel profile. The
overall depth of the concrete fill deck is 6 inches (150 mm) with 3 inch (75mm)
corrugation (amplitude) in the steel profile. The corrugations are 6 inch (150mm)
on centers. For the solid slab composite deck and open-web system the slab
thickness is assumed to be 100mm (4 inch).
5.6

LATERAL LOAD RESISTING ELEMENTS

Pure moment frame steel buildings are generally not very economic. Some

sort of bracing arrangements must be used in a steel building to achieve an

economic solution. There are several proven types of bracing arrangements such as
cross diagonals, concentric K brace, eccentric K brace, steel plate shear wall etc.
Among these, the concentric K brace is one of the most adopted systems in steel
buildings. It is also one of the few approved system of bracings by AISC standard. In
the present investigation concentric K bracing system has been adopted as the
lateral load resistant system.
5.7

NUMBER OF STOREYS AND FLOOR HEIGHT

Though a building as high as 38 storeys exists in Dhaka City, height of typical

commercial buildings ranges between ten to twenty-five stories. In the present

study buildings having 10, 12, 16, 20 and 25 storeys has been considered. A 3-span
by 3-bay floor (overall 54 x 78 plan area) has been used for the first four buildings
while 4-span by 4-bay floor (overall 72 x 104 plan area) has been used for the 25
storied building.
The floor-to-floor height has been assumed to be 12-0 (3.66 m) considering
the typical plumbing and duct requirements for air conditioning etc.

Rev. 02

Page 8

6.

FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS

6.1

MODELING
Method of structural analysis has a significant impact on the final design of a

building in terms of safety and economy. Depending on the type of project, there are
several well-established methods among which Finite Element Method (FEM) is
perhaps the most sophisticated and all-encompassing one. For the present study,
powerful and popular finite element software package ETABS has been employed
for the structural analysis and design.
A full three dimensional model of the building was developed using frame
and shell elements. The frame elements are typical two-noded space frame
elements having six degrees of freedom per node three translations and three
rotations in three mutually perpendicular axes system. The plate elements are of
rectangular (or quadrilateral) shape. The rectangular (or quadrilateral) element has
four nodes at its four corners. Each node has six degrees of freedom three
translations and three rotations in a 3D space configuration. The frame elements
are used to model the beams, columns and braces while the shell elements are used
to model the floor deck. At base level, all nodes were restrained against translation
in any directions (hinges).
A typical 3D view of the 20-storied model is shown in Fig.1 followed by a
plan in Fig.2. The plan shown in Fig.2 has been used for models having 10 ~ 20
floors. Fig.3 shows the typical K-bracing arrangements for the 20-storied model.
Fig.4 shows the plan of 25-storied model.
6.2

ANALYSIS AND DESIGN

Analysis of the building models and the design of the frame members are

performed inside the ETABS software. A typical deflected shape of the 20-storied
model under lateral earthquake load is shown in Fig.5.

Rev. 02

Page 9

Design of the frame members are performed by ETABS in accordance with

the design criteria mentioned earlier in this report. It may be mentioned that one of
the principal objective of steel structure design is to obtain the minimum weight
while maintaining the code provisions and safety. Therefore, arriving at the most
optimum design is not a straight forward task. Rather it involves a trial and error
procedure where several successive trail runs are required to arrive at the best
possible balanced between safety and economy. In the present investigation, design
close to the optimum condition confirming the least possible weight of structural
members are obtained for each of the buildings through several trail runs of
analysis and design.

7.

STRUCTURAL SHAPE REQUIREMENTS

Based on the analysis and design procedure mentioned above, the structural

design requirements for various elements like columns, beams etc. are summarized
in the following sections.
7.1

COLUMNS
Maximum required size of W shapes adequate for the columns are given in

the following tables 1 through 5 for 10, 12, 16, 20 and 25 storied buildings. It can be
observed from the Tables 1 through 5 that except the edge columns of 25 storied
build, all other columns are of 16 inch depth or smaller. For the columns of the 25
storied building at lower levels, bigger sections or built-up sections may provide a
solution. However, a further study is required to get a better insight on this issue.
Table 1: W Shape requirements for columns of 10 storied building.
Solid Concrete
Composite Deck
Slab
W12x58

Open-web Joist
System

Corner Column

Concrete Filled
Profiled Steel
Deck
W12x58

Edge Column

W12x152

W12x152

W12x152

Interior Column

W12x136

W12x136

W12x136

Rev. 02

W12x58

Page 10

Table 2: W Shape requirements for columns of 12 storied building.

Solid Concrete
Composite Deck
Slab
W14x68

Open-web Joist
System

Corner Column

Concrete Filled
Profiled Steel
Deck
W14x68

Edge Column

W12x190

W12x190

W12x190

Interior Column

W12x170

W12x170

W12x170

W14x68

Table 3: W Shape requirements for columns of 16 storied building.

Solid Concrete
Composite Deck
Slab
W12x152

Open-web Joist
System

Corner Column

Concrete Filled
Profiled Steel
Deck
W12x152

Edge Column

W12x210

W12x210

W12x210

Interior Column

W12x210

W12x210

W12x210

W12x152

Table 4: W Shape requirements for columns of 20 storied building.

Solid Concrete
Composite Deck
Slab
W12x230

Open-web Joist
System

Corner Column

Concrete Filled
Profiled Steel
Deck
W12x230

Edge Column

W12x252

W12x252

W12x252

Interior Column

W12x230

W12x230

W12x230

W12x230

Table 5: W Shape requirements for columns of 25 storied building.

Solid Concrete
Composite Deck
Slab
W12x170

Open-web Joist
System

Corner Column

Concrete Filled
Profiled Steel
Deck
W14x159

Edge Column

W12x279**

W12x279**

W12x279

Interior Column

W12x279**

W14x233

W12x279

W12x170

**Sizes greater than these are required or built-up section may be used

Rev. 02

Page 11

7.2

GIRDERS
Maximum required size of W shapes adequate for the girders (beams

connecting the columns) are given in the following tables 6 through 10 for 10, 12,
16, 20 and 25 storied buildings. It can be observed from the Tables 6 through 10
that all beam sections are of 16 inch depth or smaller.

Table 6: W Shape requirements for girders of 10 storied building.

Concrete Filled
Profiled Steel
Deck
Edge girder short direction

W10x49

Solid
Concrete
Composite
Deck Slab
W10x49

Open-web
Joist
System

Edge girder long direction

W14x30

W14x30

W14x30

Interior girder short direction

W10x49

W10x49

W10x49

Interior girder long direction

W16x40

W16x40

W16x40

W10x49

Table 7: W Shape requirements for girders of 12 storied building.

Concrete Filled
Profiled Steel
Deck
Edge girder short direction

W10x49

Solid
Concrete
Composite
Deck Slab
W10x49

Edge girder long direction

W16x31

W16x31

W16x31

Interior girder short direction

W10x49

W10x49

W10x49

Interior girder long direction

W14x48

W14x48

W14x48

Rev. 02

Open-web
Joist
System
W10x49

Page 12

Table 7: W Shape requirements for girders of 16 storied building.

Concrete Filled
Profiled Steel
Deck
Edge girder short direction

W8x48

Solid
Concrete
Composite
Deck Slab
W8x48

Open-web
Joist
System

Edge girder long direction

W16x26

W16x26

W16x26

Interior girder short direction

W10x49

W10x49

W10x49

Interior girder long direction

W16x50

W16x50

W16x50

W8x48

Table 9: W Shape requirements for girders of 20 storied building.

Concrete Filled
Profiled Steel
Deck
Edge girder short direction

W16x100

Solid
Concrete
Composite
Deck Slab
W16x100

Open-web
Joist
System

Edge girder long direction

W16x31

W16x31

W16x31

Interior girder short direction

W12x53

W12x53

W12x53

Interior girder long direction

W16x50

W16x50

W16x50

W16x100

Table 10: W Shape requirements for girders of 25 storied building.

Concrete Filled
Profiled Steel
Deck
Edge girder short direction

W14x99

Solid
Concrete
Composite
Deck Slab
W14x99

Edge girder long direction

W16x40

W16x40

W16x40

Interior girder short direction

W12x53

W12x53

W12x53

Interior girder long direction

W16x89

W16x89

W16x89

Rev. 02

Open-web
Joist
System
W14x99

Page 13

7.3

FLOOR BEAMS
Floor beams are the beams supporting the floor deck and transferring the

load to the girders. The floor beams are modeled as simply supported beams resting
on girders and transferring the gravity load to the girders. Since the basic floor
panel size is same (18' x 26') for all buildings, the size of the floor beam is also same
for each type of floor system. Table 11 shows the required maximum size of floor
beams for each type of floor system.
Table 11: Floor beam/joist requirements for buildings.
Concrete Filled Profiled
Steel Deck

Solid Concrete
Composite Deck Slab

Open-web Joist System

W12x14

W10x22

20LH09

7.4

BRACINGS
In this study, concentric K-bracing system has been adopted for the building

models. The maximum size of required W shapes for K-braces are given in Table 12
that follows. In Table 12 it may be observed that requirement for 20 storied
building (W8x48) is lower than the requirement of 16 storied building (W16x67).
This is due to the fact that, in the 16 storied building, K-bracing system has been
applied to only one bay per side while in the 20 storied building, it was two bays
per side. Thus the bracing in the 20 storied building had stronger configuration
resulting in a smaller section requirement.
Table 12: W Shape requirements for K-bracing system.

10 storied building

Concrete Filled
Solid Concrete
Profiled Steel Deck Composite Deck Slab
W12x45
W10x45

Open-web
Joist System
W10x45

12 storied building

W10x49

W10x49

W10x49

16 storied building

W8x40

W8x40

W8x40

20 storied building

W8x48

W8x48

W8x48

25 storied building

W14x74

W12x65

W12x65

Rev. 02

Page 14

7.5

OVERALL MATERIAL REQUIREMENT

The average material requirement per unit floor area is a very important

parameter in making decision about a building project. In the present investigation,

the average weight of steel requirement for different buildings having different
floor systems are given in the following Tables 13 through 15.
Based on the material requirement the average steel requirement per unit
floor area has been determined and presented in Table 16. In this table an
additional 10% allowance in weight is considered to include the weight of
accessories like splice plates, gusset plates, connections, bolts etc.

Table 13: Element wise material requirement for buildings with profile steel deck floor system
Material

10-Storey

12-Storey

16-Storey

20-Storey

25-Storey

Area per floor, m2

392

392

392

392

696

Total area, m2

4312

5096

6664

8232

18096

Column weight, ton

Steel

82

115

171

256

551

Girder weight, ton

Steel

116

146

177

249

536

Brace weight, ton

Steel

21

27

62

86

144

Floor beam, ton

Steel

57

66

86

106

190

Floor weight, ton

Conc

1234

1484

1908

2357

4723

Rebar for concrete, ton

Steel rebar 16

19

26

32

70

Metal deck weight, ton

Steel

52

68

84

193

Rev. 02

44

Page 15

Table 14: Element wise material requirement for buildings with solid concrete composite slab floor system
Material

10-Storey

12-Storey

16-Storey

20-Storey

25-Storey

Area per floor, m2

392

392

392

392

696

Total area, m2

4312

5096

6664

8232

18096

Column weight, ton

Steel

80

115

171

254

550

Girder weight, ton

Steel

115

144

195

260

510

Brace weight, ton

Steel

22

27

62

86

140

Floor beam, ton

Steel

59

66

87

115

240

Floor weight, ton

Conc

1234

1460

1908

2356

4200

Rebar for concrete, ton

Steel rebar 31

36

47

58

127

Metal deck weight, ton

Steel

None

None

None

None

None

Table 15: Element wise material requirement for buildings with open-web joist floor system
Material

10-Storey

12-Storey

16-Storey

20-Storey

25-Storey

Area per floor, m2

392

392

392

392

696

Total area, m2

4312

5096

6664

8232

18096

Column weight, ton

Steel

79

115

171

252

556

Girder weight, ton

Steel

115

144

176

244

518

Brace weight, ton

Steel

21

26

62

86

135

Floor beam, ton

Steel

45

65

73

80

189

Floor weight, ton

Conc

1234

1484

1908

2356

4200

Rebar for concrete, ton

Steel rebar 39

46

60

74

163

Metal deck weight, ton

Steel

None

None

None

None

Rev. 02

None

Page 16

Table 16: Average steel requirement per unit floor area, kg/m2.
No. of Storeys

Concrete Filled
Profiled Steel Deck

Solid Concrete
Composite Deck Slab

Open-web Joist
System

10

85.7

78.3

76.3

12

91.7

83.8

85.5

16

97.4

92.8

89.5

20

108.6

103.3

98.3

25

102.4

95.3

94.9

8.

CONCLUSIONS
A detailed numerical finite element investigation has been performed to

study the rolled W shape requirement for typical steel commercial buildings in
Dhaka City. Detailed findings of the study are presented in the preceding articles.
The scopes and assumptions of the study are also mentioned in detail in the
preceding sections. The study mainly focuses on the steel material requirement of
the main structural members and components. No consideration is given to
construction related issues or effect of non-structural building components on
costing. The results of this investigation should be interpreted in the context of
these scopes and assumptions. Based on the study, following conclusions can be
drawn.

Up to 20-storied buildings, the structural framing can be managed with rolled

W-shapes of depth 16 inch (406 mm) or lower.

For a 25 storied building, except for a few column elements at lower floors, most
of the members can be managed with rolled shapes having depth 16 inch or
lower. For the columns of lower floors of 25 storied building, built-up sections
can be a solution.

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Type of floor system does not have any effect of the framing requirement of the
main structural framing system consisting of columns, girders (beams
connecting the columns) and bracings. Regardless of the floor system adopted,
the structural and material requirement for these framing elements are
generally the same.

Open-web joist type floor system results in the most economical solution in
terms of material requirement. However, issues like cost of fabrication, quality
control and additional lead time required should also be taken into
consideration before making final decision about the floor system.

When only floor systems are compared, open-web joist system can achieve
about 25% ~ 30% economy in steel material compared to steel profile deck
system. Solid concrete composite slab system can achieve about 20% ~ 25%
economy.

When overall steel material requirement is compared, open-web joist system

can achieve about 9% economy. In such a case, solid concrete composite slab
may achieve about 8% economy. Thus the difference in material economy
between solid concrete composite slab and open-web joist system is marginal.

The average weight of structural steel has been found to vary between 76 kg/m2
to 109 kg/m2 for 10 to 25 storied buildings respectively depending on type of
floor system used.

In this study, floor-to-floor height has been assumed as 12 ft (3.66m). If floor

height is reduced to 11 ft (3.35m) then an additional 3~4% overall economy in
material may be achieved.

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Fig.1 3D view of the finite element model of 20 storied building

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Fig.2 Plan of 10 ~ 20 storied models

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Fig.3 Elevation of 20-storied building showing bracing arrangements.

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Fig.4. Plan of 25-storied model

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Fig.5 Typical deflected shape of 20-storied model under lateral load.

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Fig.6 Typical W-Shape requirements for the lower floor of the 20-storied building.

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Fig.7 The demand vs. capcity (D/C) ratio for the frame members of the lower floors of a
typical frame of the 20-storied model.

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