ENGR. C.

LEOBRERA

LECTURE 6

FLEXURE THEORY
LATERALLY SUPPORTED BEAMS
(Lb = 0 )

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 1

FLEXURAL MEMBERS ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Flexural members (beams) are defined as members acted upon primarily by transverse
loading, often gravity dead and live load effects. Thus, flexural members in a structure may
also be referred to as:

Girders - usually the most important

beams, which are frequently at wide
spacing.

Joists - usually less important beams,

which are closely spaced, frequently with
truss-type webs.

Purlins - roof beams spanning between

trusses.

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 2

FLEXURAL MEMBERS ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Stringers - longitudinal bridge beams

spanning between floor beams. (Usually at
stairs)

Girts - horizontal wall beams serving

principally to resist bending due to wind
on the side of an industrial building,
frequently supporting corrugated siding.

Lintels - members supporting a wall over

window or door openings.

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 3

FLEXURAL MEMBERS ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 4

FLEXURAL MEMBERS ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 5

Stresses in Beams of Symmetric Sections
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

A beam is a combination of a tension and compression element. In the figure, the top
flange is in tension while the bottom flange is in compression.

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 6

Stresses in Beams of Symmetric Sections
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

When fc = ft < Fy , the behavior is elastic.

Question: Is the Yield Moment (My) the ultimate capacity of a steel beam?

When fc = ft > Fy , the behavior is plastic.

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 7

Stress Distribution at Different Loading Stages
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 8

Plastic Moment Mp
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

The Plastic Moment (Mp) is the largest moment that a steel beam can take.

It is the point where the entire cross section reaches Fy.

After this point, the beam will freely deform under no increase in load.

The Plastic Neutral Axis (P.N.A.) is where the compressive forces equal the
tensile forces.

How about Elastic Neutral Axis (E.N.A.)?

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 9

Formation of Collapse Mechanism ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Once the plastic moment strength Mp has been reached, the section can
offer no additional resistance to rotation, behaving as a hinge but with a
constant resistance Mp, a condition known as plastic hinge.

The creation of enough plastic hinges will cause the formation of a collapse
mechanism.

In general, any combination of three hinges, real or plastic, in a span will

result in a collapse mechanism.

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 10

Formation of Collapse Mechanism ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 11

Formation of Collapse Mechanism ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 12

Example 1 ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Find Pp to induce plastic hinging.

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 13

Example 1 ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 14

Example 2 ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 15

Lateral Bracing and Lb
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

A beam, like a column, presents a stability issue:

Beams, like columns, are susceptible to buckling.

A Flange and a portion of the web are in compression.

While these two types of buckling are different, both are a function
of the length of the beam between bracing elements.

We denote this the unbraced length or Lb

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 16

Lateral Bracing and Lb
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Continuous support from floor slabs (simply supported), i.e. Lb=0

A laterally supported beam (continuously braced) ensures that the buckling of the compression
flange cannot occur prior to its participation to develop the moment strength of the structure.

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 17

Lateral Bracing and Lb
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Beam framing on both sides:

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 18

Lateral Bracing and Lb
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Typical Steel Floor System:

Girder: Discretely braced (Lb > 0)

Beam (Simply supported): Continuously Braced (by the slab) (Lb = 0)

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 19

Lateral Bracing and Lb
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Cross Frames or Diagonal Bracing:

Discretely braced (Lb > 0)

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 20

Lateral Bracing and Lb
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Cross Frames or Diagonal Bracing:

Discretely braced (Lb > 0)

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 21

AISC Capacity of Beams
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

There are three primary chapters of AISC Specifications related to Beams:

Chapter F: Design of members for flexure

Chapter G: Design of members for shear

Chapter L: Design for serviceability (deflections)

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 22

AISC Capacity of Beams
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 23

AISC Capacity of Beams
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Before we discuss capacity, recall the concept of local buckling:

That is, the individual plate elements might buckle before the global
strength of a member is reached.
This phenomenon is still something we have to consider for beams.

We have three ranges in which plate elements can fall:

Compact flanges/webs
Non-compact flanges/webs
Slender flanges/webs

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 24

AISC Capacity of Beams
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

More compact sections can

achieve more rotations (more
ductility).

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 25

AISC Capacity of Beams
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 26

AISC Capacity of Beams
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 27

AISC Capacity of Beams
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 28

AISC Continuously Braced
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

If a beam is laterally supported (continuously braced), the possible limit

states that might govern are section yielding and local buckling of either
or both the compression flange and the web.

In hot-rolled I shaped sections, for practical purposes, local buckling can

occur only on the flanges. Why?

We limit our discussion for now to

doubly symmetric I shaped members
bent about their major axis.

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 29

AISC Continuously Braced
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 30

AISC Continuously Braced
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Compact Section
l < lp

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 31

AISC Continuously Braced
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 32

AISC Continuously Braced
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Non Compact section:

l = lr
Partially-compact section:
lp < l < lr
Slender element section:
lr < l

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 33

AISC Continuously Braced
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

The maximum moment a

beam can take (Mp) is
not affected by how
much residual stresses
are.

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 34

AISC Continuously Braced
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 35

AISC Continuously Braced
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 36

AISC Design for Serviceability
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

We do not factor loads when assessing deflection limits!

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 37

AISC Design for Serviceability
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 38

AISC Design for Serviceability
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Simply Supported Beam with uniform load:

5wL4
max =
384EI
wL2 Mc d 10fL2
Substituting M = ,f = , and c = gives max =
8 I 2 48Ed

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 39

AISC Design for Serviceability
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Traditional Deflection Limits

Fully stressed floor beams and girders,

L 800

d Fy (ksi)
Floor beams and girders, subject to shock or vibratory loads,
supporting open areas free of partitions or other sources of damping,
L
 20
d
For roof purlins, fully stressed, except flat roofs,
L 1000

d Fy (ksi)

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 40

AISC Design for Serviceability
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 41

AISC Design for Serviceability
ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 42

Shear on Rolled Beams ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Recall from Mechanics of Materials,

VQ
=
It
Under usual procedures of steel design, the shear stress is
computed as the average value over the gross area of the web
neglecting the effect of any fastener holes,
V V
fv = =
Aw dtw
For a beam with an I - shaped section, most of the shear is primarily
carried by the web.

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 43

Shear on Rolled Beams ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

As long as the web remains stable, the shear strength Vn of the section is
based on overall shear yielding of the web,

Vn = y Aw

According to the energy of distortion theory, y = 0.58 Fy

Thus, AISC-G2.1 gives Vn = 0.6 Fyw Aw , (Fyw = Fy for rolled sections).

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 44

Shear on Rolled Beams ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Provided:

h E 380
= 2.24 =
tw Fy Fy (ksi)

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 45

AISC Shear Limit State ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 46

AISC Shear Limit State ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Fy = specified minimum yield

stress, ksi
Aw= web area, in2 = d*tw
d = depth of the section, inch
tw = beam web thickness, inch
Cv = web shear coefficient

This section covers rolled I-

shaped members with compact
webs.
For Fy = 50 ksi, most rolled
shapes are governed by shear
yielding.
Note:
fv = 1.00 and
Wv = 1.50

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES for this situation 47

AISC Shear Limit State ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Note:

fv = 0.90 and
Wv = 1.67
for this situation

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 48

AISC Shear Limit State ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 49

Example 3 ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Let’s analyze a beam (top flange has continuous lateral support) to see if it is
adequate to carry the following loads:

W 16x31 (A992 Steel, self-weight excluded)

(a) Moment Capacity Only

(b) With consideration to the service live

load deflection limit of L/360

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 50

Example 3 ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Therefore, W16X31 is a Compact

Section

Governing Limit state will be

Plastic Yielding

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 51

Example 3a ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Required Required

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 52

Example 3b ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Required

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 53

Example 3 ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

W 16X31 is sufficient!

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 54

Example 3 ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Deflection requirement governs over moment

capacity and shear capacity for this problem.

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 55

Example 4 ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Design a simply supported beam (has continuous lateral support): Fy = 50ksi

(a) No deflection limits

(b) With consideration to the service live

load deflection limit of L/500

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 56

Example 4a ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 57

Example 4a ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 58

Example 4a ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Update ultimate load requirements:

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 59

Example 4a ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Section is ok (note: no deflection considerations yet)

Check and note that W24X84 is also sufficient (same weight but
shallower). This will make the architect happy ☺

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 60

Example 4b ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

It can be seen that the beam

is sufficiently strong but not
sufficiently stiff to satisfy
the specified deflection limit.

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 61

Example 4b ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

Update ultimate load requirements:

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 62

Example 4b ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

W33X118 is sufficient! (deflection requirement governs the design.

Also, the section is compact, validating our assumption. Note that most
W shapes are compact sections.)

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 63

REFERENCES ENGR. C. LEOBRERA

• Salmon, C.G., Johnson, J.E. and Malhas, F.A. (2009). Steel Structures Design
and Behavior, Prentice Hall, 5th edition.
• AISC – ASD/LRFD Steel Construction Manual, 13th edition
• Project Execution Services (PES). Civil/Structural Training Course No.
CSA266. AISC Steel Design – AISC 360-05. Fluor Corporation 2009.
• Michaelson, G. (2016, April 13). CE 414 Lecture 28: Continuously-Braced
Beams. Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiWuYP9PbXM&list=PLCV9OyAY5
K-U_GojXS_8gI7lwbo2Lf_d3&index=28

CE 156 STEEL STRUCTURES 64