Lesson2 STEEL PROPERTIES C

STEEL STRUCTURES – DESIGN
AND BEHAVIOR
A first advanced course for

designing steel structures
Isaac Hernandez-Fajardo, PhD

Universidad Militar, Bogota, Colombia, 2020
2. STEELS AND THEIR PROPERTIES
2.1. STRUCTURAL STEELS
- From start of usage till 1960, steel was carbon steel

marked as ASTM A7, minimum yield stress 231 MPa
- Today, many types available,

- High material strength
- Corrosion-resistance weathering steels
- Better weldability
- Each type, a different ASTM designation

- Strength or allowable stress expressed in terms of

yield stress
- Yield stress either yield point, a well-defined deviation

from elasticity, or
- … a unit stress at a certain offset strain, for steels with

no yield point
- Yield stress ranges from 24 to 100 ksi (170 to 690

MPa)
- Structural steels from hot-rolled manufacturing:

- Carbon steel
- High-strength Low Alloy (HSLA) steels
- Alloy steels
- All specified in ASTM A6/A6M
- In general, steel must have

- Identification
- minimum yield strength, and
- tensile strength
CARBON STEELS
- Four types divided by carbon content:

- Low carbon (< 0.15%)
- Mild carbon (0.15 - 0.29%)
- Medium carbon (0.30 – 0.50%)
- High carbon (0.60 – 1.70%)
- Structural carbon steels – mild carbon steels

- A36 – 0.25% - 0.29%
- Structural carbon steel exhibit definite yield points

CARBON STEELS
- What does carbon do to steel?

- Increases yield stress
- reduces ductility
- makes welding more difficult
- Examples: A36, A53, A500, A501, A529, A709 Grade

36.
HIGH-STRENGTH LOW ALLOY (HSLA) STEELS
- Steels with yield stress in range 40-70 ksi (280-490

MPa)
- They show definite yield point
- What are they? Carbon steels with added small

amounts of alloy elements
- Alloy elements such as chromium, columbium, copper,

manganese, molybdenum, nickel, phosphorus, vanadium
or zirconium
HIGH-STRENGTH LOW ALLOY (HSLA) STEELS
- What makes them different?

- No additional carbon
- Properties enhanced by fine microstructure created
during cooling
- No heat treatment applied
- Examples: A242, A572, A58, A606, A709 Grade 50,

50W, A992, A1011
ALLOY STEELS
- Created by quenching and tempering low-alloy steels

to increase yield stress to something between 80 to
110 ksi (560 to 770 MPa)
- Yield stress defined usually at 0.2% offset strain as

they do not exhibit yield point
- Weldable with proper procedures
- Maximum carbon content limited to 0.2% to control

hardness, and hence avoid cracks
ALLOY STEELS
- Hardness comes from any coarse-grain microstructure

(martensite) forming during heat treatment or welding
- Heat treatment: Quenching in water or oil from 1650 °F

to 300-400 °F and then tempering by reheating to at
least 1150 °F and allowing it to cool …
- Tempering reduces strength and hardness of

quenched steel, but improves toughness and ductility
- Strength reduction countered by 2nd hardening

inducing precipitation of columbium, titanium, or
vanadium carbides
- In summary:
1) quenching produces martensite, very hard,
strong, brittle microstructure
2) reheating reduces strength and hardness,
improves toughness and ductility
- Examples: A514, A709 Gr 100 and 100 W, A852, A913

2.2. FASTENER STEELS
- A307. Carbon steel bolts and studs, 60 ksi tensile

strength
- Machine bolts, for temporary installation
- Grade A, for general applications, min Fu: 60 ksi

(420 MPa)
- Grade B, for flange joints in pipes where flanges

are cast iron. Min Fu: 100 ksi (700 MPa)
- No yield point, no minimum yield strength specified

- A325. High strength bolts for structural steel joints
- Quenched, tempered medium carbon steel.

Maximum carbon content: 0.30%
- In tension test, behaves like heat treated low alloy

steel
- Fu:120 ksi (840 MPa) for ½ - 1”; 105 ksi (735 MPa)
for 1 1/8 – 1 ½ bolts
- Fy at 0.2% offset , 92 ksi (642 MPa) for ½ - 1”; 81

ksi (558 MPa) for 1 1/8 – 1 ½ bolts
- A449. Quenched and tempered steel for bolts, studs
- Fu and Fy (0.2% offset) as for A325 for bolts 1 ½

and smaller. Available up to 3-in diam
- Maximum carbon content of 0.30%
- Have regular, instead of heavy, head and longer

thread length of A307
- Only allowed by the AISC specification for certain

structural joints and for high strength anchor bolts
and threaded rods
- A490. Heat treated steel structural bolt, 150 ksi (1050
MPa) minimum tensile strength
- Maximum carbon content up to 0.53% for 1 ½ -in.

diameter bolts
- Alloying elements similar to A514
- Quenched in oil, tempered by reheating to at least

900 °F
- Min yield strength at 0.2% offset 115 ksi (793 MPa),

> 2 ½ - 4-in. diameters; 130 ksi (896 MPa) for
diameters <= than 2 ½
- Galvanized high-strength bolts
- A325 bolts can be galvanized for corrosion

protection
- Hot-dip galvanizing: molten-zinc temperature in

range of heat treatment temperature, what might
affect the bolt’s heat treatment changes
- Nuts must be oversized for galvanized bolts
- If nuts galvanized they must be double oversized

- Galvanized high-strength bolts
- Hydrogen embrittlement: hydrogen remains in steel

of Fu above 200 ksi and then subjected to tension
- This occurs during the pickling part of the

galvanization. Hydrogen sealed within zinc coating
- A325 has a tensile strength close to 120 ksi, far

from 200 ksi, no problem
- A490, maximum tensile strength of 170 ksi, close to

200 ksi, so A490 bolts must no be galvanized
2.3. WELD ELECTRODE AND FILLER MATERIAL
- Electrodes used in SMAW (Shielded Metal Arc

Welding) also serve as filler material
- Electrodes covered by AWS A5.1, A5.5 specifications
- Consumable electrodes identified as E60XX, E70XX,

E80XX, E90XX, E100XX, E110XX
- E denotes electrode; first two digits, tensile strength in

ksi (60 to 110 ksi, 420 to 770 MPa)
- XX represent numbers indicating electrode usage

- For SAW (Submerged Arc Welding) electrodes also

serve as filler material
- For SAW, materials specified by AWS A5.17 and A5.23
- Weld electrodes designated F6XX-EXXX, F7XX-EXXX,

and so on up to F11XX-EXXX
- F designates a granular flux material shielding weld as

it is made.
- First one or two digits after F designate tensile strength

in ksi (6 means 60, 11, 110 and so on)
- For SAW (Submerged Arc Welding) electrodes …
- E stands for electrode and other X’s represent

numbers related to use
2.4. STRESS-STRAIN BEHAVIOR (TENSION TEST)
- Unit stress: load divided by original cross section
- Strain: elongation divided by original length
- These are engineering stress-strain curves
- They rise to maximum stress level, tensile strength, to

then fall off with larger strain till specimen breaks
- Actually, real stress raises until failure occurs

- For steels with clear yield points, the long plateau of

constant stress is the plastic range of the steel
- The LRFD method consciously uses this range
- Steels of higher strength also show behavior similar to

a plastic range, but stress keeps increasing. Because
of this, they are not accepted for inelastic analysis (Fy
> 65 ksi)
- For strains > 15 to 20 times maximum elastic strain

(0.001), stress increases with flatter slope
- Ductility allows local yielding due to high stresses and

allows the stress distribution to change
- Design procedures based on inelastic behavior

inherently require large ductility near holes or at abrupt
changes and for connections
2.5. MATERIAL TOUGHNESS
- Steels stronger than A36 with no heat treatment show
issues related to lack of ductility and fracture
- One must be aware of such issues when using strong

steels
- Toughness: a measure of the ability of the steel to

resist fracture, this is, of absorbing energy
- Rolfe, toughness: “resistance to unstable crack

propagation in the presence of a notch”
- Unstable crack propagation induces brittle fracture

- Stable crack propagation is characteristic of subcritical
cracks due to fatigue
- For uniaxial tests, toughness is the total area under the

stress-strain curve; however, this loading condition is
highly unusual. This definition does not help much
- Instead, we use notch toughness, based on the stress

condition at the root of a notch
- Notch toughness: measure of resistance of a metal to

start and propagation of a crack at base of a standard
notch, estimated by the Charpy V-notch test
- Charpy V-notch test: a small rectangular simply

supported beam has a V-notch at its center
- Beam fractured by a blow from a swinging pendulum
- Energy absorbed calculated from height the pendulum

reaches after breaking specimen
- Amount absorbed energy increases with temperature

- Relationship between temperature and toughness
must be considered: temperature influences ductile
and brittle behavior in steel
- Point where slope is steepest is transition temperature

(Point A)
- Point where clear decrease in slope begins is the

ductility transition temperature.
- Below that temperature, material is brittle and hence,

inelastic design principles do not apply.
2.6. YIELD STRESS FOR MULTIAXIAL STATES
OF STRESS
- Condition of uniaxial tension stress is uncommon.
- More complex stress states exist; yielding as a limit

state is considered reached when any one component
of stress reaches the uniaxial value Fy
- For all other stress states different from uniaxial, a

yielding definition is required
- These are called yield conditions or theories of failure =

equations of interaction between acting stresses
2.6. ENERGY OF DISTORTION (HUBER - VON
MISES – HENCKY) YIELD CRITERION
2.6. ENERGY OF DISTORTION (HUBER - VON
MISES – HENCKY) YIELD CRITERION
2.6. SHEAR YIELD STRESS
2.6. SHEAR YIELD STRESS
2.6. POISSON’S RATIO μ
2.6. SHEAR MODULUS OF ELASTICITY
2.7. COLD WORK AND STRAIN-HARDENING
- If load taken beyond yield point to Point A for example,

unloading will lead to Point B, with permanent
deformation O-B.
- Ductility capability of steel specimen has been reduced

from OF strain to BF strain.
- Reloading exhibits behavior as if stress-strain origin

were at Point B
- When loading has taken test to condition at Point C,

unloading follows dashed line to Point D
- Origin for new loading is now Point D
- Length of line CD greater, indicating that yield point

has increased
- Increased yield point referred to as a strain hardening

effect.
- However, notice that remaining ductility from Point D

severely reduced from original value at start of loading
progression
- Loading beyond elastic range cause change in

available ductility, when done at atmospheric
temperature, known as cold work
- Cold work effect really more complex
- When structural shapes are made by cold work from

plates, bends undergo inelastic deformations
- Cold working into strain-hardening range at bend

locations increases yield strength
- Upon unloading, and after some time, steel acquires

different properties from those represented by points D,
C, and E by a phenomenon known as strain aging.
- Strain aging: additional increase in yield point, restores

a plastic plateau, and gives new strain-hardening zone
at elevated stress
- Original shape of stress-strain diagram restored, but

ductility reduced
- Stress relieving by annealing will eliminate the effects of

cold work if so desired
- Annealing: reheating to temp. above transformation

range and slow cooling: recrystallization occurs to
restore original properties
2.7. BRITTLE FRACTURE
- Steel can become brittle under certain situations
- Brittle Fracture: catastrophic failure occurring without

prior plastic deformation at high speeds
- Factor affecting brittle fracture:

- temperature,
- loading rate,
- stress,
- flaw size,
- plate thickness or constraint,
- joint geometry, and
- workmanship
2.7. BRITTLE FRACTURE: TEMPERATURE
- Notch toughness from Charpy test, an indicator of

fracture susceptibility
- Effects:
- temperature value below which notch toughness
is inadequate
- range between 600 to 800 °F (320 to 430 °C)
causes formation of brittle microstructure
- Above 1000 °F (540 °C) heat causes carbide
precipitation of alloy elements
- Such precipitation causes more brittle
microstructure
2.7. BRITTLE FRACTURE: MULTIAXIAL STRESS
- Stresses at joints more complex than uniaxial stress
- Engineering stress-strain curve of steel for uniaxial

stress
- If biaxial stress condition could be achieved, plastic

necking down could be stopped to make test bar break
in a brittle manner with no elongation or area reduction
- Fracture stress for the b) condition would be as big as

for the a) condition
- But, unit stress would be far above nominal tensile

strength of engineering stress-strain curve calculated
using original cross section area
- Now, on effect of notches, they act like stress condition

at b) as they restrain plastic flow, enhancing the
possibility of brittle fracture
- Consider image next. Smaller element cross section in

specimen tries to narrow as the axial tension increases
…
- But this resisted by diagonal pull in corners!
- Test bar will fail at high stress, but by brittle fracture
- Now, where in reality does this occur?

- At unfilleted corners
- At improperly made welds
- This can be minimized by good attention to design and

at welding procedures
- Unusual configurations, section changes must be

gradual so that stresses do not change abruptly
2.7. BRITTLE FRACTURE: WELD- INDUCED
MULTIAXIAL STRESS
- Welding creates a built-in resistance to motion inducing
biaxial and triaxial stress and strain conditions
- Such conditions not good: they induce brittle failure
- Consider next images. On left, bolted connection. On

right, welded connection
- Bolted connection: flange bolts in uniaxial tension
- Bolted connection: Bolts in suspender in double shear

MULTIAXIAL STRESS
MULTIAXIAL STRESS
- Bolted connection: horizontal legs in bending
- Point A in welded connection: biaxial stress condition
- Weld region in triaxial stress: two horizontal and

vertical stresses plus Poisson effect along its length
2.7. BRITTLE FRACTURE: THICKNESS
- Thin elements can be assumed to be under plane

stress; not same for thick elements
- In general, 3D stress conditions lead to brittle failure in

thick elements
- Brittleness in thick plates also increase due to faster

cooling rates which produce coarse microstructure
- Also, a higher carbon content required to achieve

same resistance as for thinner elements
2.7. BRITTLE FRACTURE: THICKNESS
- Application of this principle: very thick W shapes

(groups 4 and 5) show low fracture toughness at cores
of
- Thick flange-web junctions
- Web center
- Low fracture toughness may cause brittle failure if

sections work under tension. So, used only as
compression members
- If bolted splices used for these groups, no specific

toughness needed; only required if CJP welds
specified for splices
2.7. BRITTLE FRACTURE: DYNAMIC LOADING
- Rapid Loading:
- Forge drop-hammers
- Earthquake
- Nuclear blast
- Rapid load changes steel’s stress-strain properties
- Increased strain rate from dynamic loading increases

yield point, tensile strength, and ductility
- Key aspect of dynamic loading is combination of

increasing strain rate with a decreasing strain rate
2.7. BRITTLE FRACTURE: SUMMARY
The following are risk factors for brittleness in steel,
1. Minimum service temperature: too low, failure will be

brittle
2. Is tension involved? Brittle failure only occurs under
tension
3. Thick element? The thicker, the more fragile
4. Is there 3D continuity? It restrains yielding in steel
5. Are notches present? They restrain yielding
6. Is load applied at high rate? The higher the rate, the
more concern should be given
7. Is there a change in stress?
8. Is welding involved? Weld cracks can act as notches
2.8. LAMELLAR TEARING
- Lamellar tearing: a form of brittle fracture
- It occurs in planes parallel to rolled surface of a plate

under high through-thickness loading
- Normal loads do not initiate or propagate it
- Through-thickness strains induced by weld metal

shrinkage in highly restrained joints
- Localized strains can be many times larger than yield

strain
- Cause/source: cross section of rolled shape has
different properties along its thickness
- Properties are different in different directions of the

shape
- In elastic range, no problem, but ductility is different
- I-shapes properly ductile when loaded parallel or
transverse to rolling direction
- But if strain located through thickness of thick flange, a

restrained situation occurs:
- strain cannot redistribute from flange to web

- cannot reach opposite flange
- Inducing large strains in the thickness
- … causing decohesion, rupture and lamellar tearing
- Internal joint restraint allowing large strains from weld

shrinkage can induce lamellar tearing
2.9. FATIGUE STRENGTH
- Repeated cycles of loading/unloading under tension
may lead to failure even if yield stress not reached
- Fatigue: brittle failure under cyclic loading
- Fatigue: progressive failure with unstable crack

propagation as final stage
- Three variables control fatigue

1. Number of loading cycles
2. Service load range
3. Initial size of flaw/small crack
- In welded joints, a flaw: 1) a notch, 2) intersection of
two elements, or 3) or a discontinuity s.a. a bolt hole
- Flaws result from 1) poor welds, 2) rough edges from

shearing, punching, or flame cutting of small holes
- After many cycles, flaws induce cracks, increasing in

length with every cycle, reducing section and
increasing stress on affected zone
- Fatigue is always a service load consideration, with

load range controlling crack propagation
- Steel grade or dead load stresses: no effect on fatigue
- Geometry, surface condition, and internal soundness

of welds do impact fatigue
- AISC-360-10 does not bother with fatigue for fewer

than 20’000 cycles (2 cycles per day for 25 years)
- No concern for buildings, excepted crane-runway

girders and structures supporting machinery
- Always consider fatigue for bridges which are expected

to have in excess of 100k load cycles
2.10. CORROSION RESISTANCE
- Painting required to avoid rusting due to corrosion
- Corrosion resistance can be provided with copper as

alloy, but expensive
- HSLA steels have several times corrosion resistance of

carbon steels
- For these steels, rust becomes a protective coat that

prevents further deterioration
- Corrosion resistance depends on chemical

composition, air pollution degree, wetting and drying
frequency of steel
2.10. CORROSION RESISTANCE
- ASTM A588 generally used for weathering steel in
buildings
- ASTM A709 Grades 50W and 100W used for steel

bridges
- Rules for using weathering steel

1. Expose the structure
2. Protective coating develops under normal exposure
3. If steel is buried or immersed, coat will not form,
additional protection required

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STEEL STRUCTURES – DESIGN

A first advanced course for

Isaac Hernandez-Fajardo, PhD

- From start of usage till 1960, steel was carbon steel

- Today, many types available,

- Each type, a different ASTM designation

- Strength or allowable stress expressed in terms of

- Yield stress either yield point, a well-defined deviation

- … a unit stress at a certain offset strain, for steels with

- Yield stress ranges from 24 to 100 ksi (170 to 690

- Structural steels from hot-rolled manufacturing:

- All specified in ASTM A6/A6M

- In general, steel must have

- Four types divided by carbon content:

- Structural carbon steels – mild carbon steels

- Structural carbon steel exhibit definite yield points

- What does carbon do to steel?

- Examples: A36, A53, A500, A501, A529, A709 Grade

HIGH-STRENGTH LOW ALLOY (HSLA) STEELS

- Steels with yield stress in range 40-70 ksi (280-490

- They show definite yield point

- What are they? Carbon steels with added small

- Alloy elements such as chromium, columbium, copper,

HIGH-STRENGTH LOW ALLOY (HSLA) STEELS

- What makes them different?

- No heat treatment applied

- Examples: A242, A572, A58, A606, A709 Grade 50,

- Created by quenching and tempering low-alloy steels

- Yield stress defined usually at 0.2% offset strain as

- Weldable with proper procedures

- Maximum carbon content limited to 0.2% to control

- Hardness comes from any coarse-grain microstructure

- Heat treatment: Quenching in water or oil from 1650 °F

- Tempering reduces strength and hardness of

- Strength reduction countered by 2nd hardening

- Examples: A514, A709 Gr 100 and 100 W, A852, A913

- A307. Carbon steel bolts and studs, 60 ksi tensile

- Machine bolts, for temporary installation

- Grade A, for general applications, min Fu: 60 ksi

- Grade B, for flange joints in pipes where flanges

- No yield point, no minimum yield strength specified

- A325. High strength bolts for structural steel joints

- Quenched, tempered medium carbon steel.

- In tension test, behaves like heat treated low alloy

- Fy at 0.2% offset , 92 ksi (642 MPa) for ½ - 1”; 81

- A449. Quenched and tempered steel for bolts, studs

- Fu and Fy (0.2% offset) as for A325 for bolts 1 ½

- Maximum carbon content of 0.30%

- Have regular, instead of heavy, head and longer

- Only allowed by the AISC specification for certain

- Maximum carbon content up to 0.53% for 1 ½ -in.

- Alloying elements similar to A514

- Quenched in oil, tempered by reheating to at least

- Min yield strength at 0.2% offset 115 ksi (793 MPa),

- Galvanized high-strength bolts

- A325 bolts can be galvanized for corrosion

- Hot-dip galvanizing: molten-zinc temperature in

- Nuts must be oversized for galvanized bolts

- If nuts galvanized they must be double oversized