AS4100 Standard Grades and

Sections
Asst. Prof. Hang Thu Vu
[email protected]
Lecture outline
Industry uses AS4100 for general purpose steel structure analysis
and design. Within CIVL3111, we will refer to this standard as the
main design code.
General material properties to use for design to AS4100
Discuss available standard grades and sections for design to
AS4100
Grades: overview of availability. Yield stress and tensile strength
Sections: overview of availability. Effects of shapes on section
capacity against loading actions
Study the meanings, usages and how to compute section
parameters I, Z, S
Bending of steel members in elastic and plastic ranges
Second moment of area I
Elastic section modulus Z
Plastic section modulus S

Material properties to use for design to
AS4100
Basic parameter values and adjustment for
elevated temperatures
Standard Grades
Designation of Grades
Table 2.1 in AS4100. This table gives values of yield
stress and ultimate tensile strength for steel
products that comply with the requirements of AS,
AS/NZS manufacturing standards
Standard grade usually starts with the number of the
standard then characters and digits to stand for the
grade. Example: AS/NZS 3679.1 350L0
Note: AS/NZS 1594 uses a different system of
grade designation. Refer to AS/NZS 1594 Section
1.4



Hot-rolled and cold-form grades
Hot-rolled products (plates and sections) are in
grades 200, 250, 300, 350, 400, 450, 500.
These may be obtained with notch ductile
qualities (with suffix L0 or L15) and/or weather-
resistant qualities (with prefix WR). Weathering
steels are in Grade 350 only
Hot-rolled welded sections are produced from
AS/NZS 3678 plates; popularly in Grades 300,
400, WR350
Cold-formed hollow sections are with prefixes C.
They are produced in Grades C250, C350, and
C450. They may come with notch ductile L0
quality


Hot-rolled and cold-form grades
Data for design to AS4100 for
the most commonly used
sections and plates in Grades
250, 300, 350


Values of yield stress f
y
Value of tensile strength f
u
Existence of residual stress
The material usually does not cool down
uniformly after rolling for the hot-rolled
sections. A similar effect occurs when plates
are welded at the junctions
This induces initial residual stress in the
members. Residual stresses may be as high
as f
y
/2. They greatly affect the behaviour of
steel members.
Allowance must always be made for residual
stress effect on structure behaviours

Existence of residual stress
Tips of flanges and middle of web cool and harden, more
quickly than the rest of the cross-section.
The harder parts are in a state of compression. The
junctions, being held by the harder parts and unable to
contract as far as they would otherwise, are placed in
tension.

Standard sections
Standard sections and plates
Steel products are provided in standard sizes
and shapes. For material availability and cost
aspect, it is recommended to use standard
sections in your design. Below are fundamental
sections

Standard sections and plates
Effects of shapes on member strength
It is observed that steel is produced in various sections.
These include "plate", "rounds, bars and rods", "angles",
"channels" and "I-sections".
The I-sections are produced as "beam" sections with I
yy

much less than I
xx
and "column" sections with I
yy
of closer
value to I
xx
.
Most of these sections are produced by rolling red hot
steel. Most sections have parallel flanges (the "universal"
beam and column sections, and the channels). Some
"taper flange" Is and channels are also produced.
It is possible to make very large sections (e.g. for bridge
beams) by welding plate into the form of an I or box.
Lengths are available from a minimum of 6 metres to a
maximum of 30 metres. Refer to Table 2, OneSteel "Hot
Rolled and Structural Products", 5
th
ed.
Effects of shapes on member strength
The main reason for existence of various section
shapes is to maximize member strength while
minimize the amount of used material for cost
purpose
Consider shape effects on member strength
subjected to different types of loading
Tension: stress depends on cross sectional area. It
is independent of section shape.


Compression: if the member is bulky, stress in the
squashed member is independent of section shape.
It is similar to tension case

A
P
= o
Effects of shapes on member strength
However, if buckling occurs, the buckling load
that the member can withstand depends on
second moment of area I
xx
and I
yy
.



As the column buckle about the axis which is of
weaker I, it is important to have I
xx
and I
yy
of
similar magnitude (Universal columns) when
there is no lateral bracing for weak axis

2
2
) (kL
EI
P
cr
t
=
Effects of shapes on member strength
Bending: stress in a beam depends on the second
moment of area I



The bending moment which a beam can carry before its
flange starts to yield is M=Zf
y
, where Z is the elastic
modulus.


If the moment is increased further, yielding spreads
throughout the cross section. Total collapse occurs at a
moment M=Sf
y
where S is the plastic section modulus
(study later).


I
My
= o
max
y
I
Z =
Effects of shapes on member strength
To maximize the section capacity for bending is
to maximize Z and S. For a given amount of
material, it is done by spreading the material
away from the neutral axis xx associated with
the bending. The I section is ideal for this
purpose.
A weak point is for the same amount of material
when I
xx
increases to support bending about xx
axis, I
yy
is reduced. It makes the beam flexible in
the lateral direction, and prone to "lateral
buckling (study later
Compare section properties for sections of
same amount of material
Area A = 16000 mm
2
Spread material further away from neutral axis to
make rectangle, I shape (610 UB 125), truss

Compare section properties for sections of
same amount of material
Section I (mm
4
) Z (mm
3
) S (mm
3
) Ratio S/Z
Square 21.3 x 10
6
337.4 x 10
3
506.1 x 10
3
1.5
Rectangle 42.7 x 10
6
477.4 x 10
3
716.1 x 10
3
1.5
I beam 986 x 10
6
3230 x 10
3
3680 x 10
3
1.14
Truss (Ad
2
)/4

(Ad)/2 (Ad)/2 1
The I shape is ideal for achieving high bending stiffness for the
same amount of cross sectional area
For some sections, S is computed by factoring Z with a factor k.
Square and rectangle: k = 1.5 exactly
I beam: k ~ 1.15
You will learn how to compute S directly later. It is expected that you
do not use the factoring approach in your calculation within this unit.

Bending of steel member in elastic and
plastic ranges

Revision: Structural analysis
Revision: Structural analysis
We want to calculate the maximum values of
actions (moment, shear force, axial force ..)
for member design
Free body diagram



Vertical reaction A
y
, equivalent load P. At the
cut of distance X from left end: shear force V,
bending moment M

Revision: Structural analysis
The reaction at A is
The equivalent point load at a distance x/2 from A is
Take moment about the cut,



Force equilibrium for y direction,



Maximum shear force happens at end
Maximum bending moment happens at middle
wL A
y
2
1
=
wx P=
2 2
1
0
2 2
1
2
wx
wLx M
x
wx wLx M
=
= +
wx wL V
wx wL V
=
= +
2
1
0
2
1
wL V
2
1
max
=
8
2
max
wL
M =
Revision: Structural analysis
Bending of a beam member
Bending stress
xx
of the cross-section of a beam varies along
the beam height






The beam is under maximum stress when M=M
max
and
y=y
max
=d/2
The extreme fibre of the cross-section starts to yield when
xx
=
f
y
. Hence, the moment capacity that a cross-section can take is
Z
M
I
My
= = o
Z f M
y y
=
Bending of a beam member
When the whole cross section yields the moment
capacity increases to M
s.
For design purpose (lower bound of plasticity), strain
hardening is ignored. The material is termed as pure
plasticity (see below figure).
It is assumed that the maximum stress that anywhere in
the cross section can reach is f
y
(see below figure)

Bending of a beam member
Z is termed elastic section modulus
S is termed plastic section modulus

Second moment of area
Formulae
Second Moment of Area: also known with other names
Second Moment Of Inertia, Area Moment of Inertia
The mathematical equations to calculate the Second
Moment of Area :





y is the distance from the neutral axis xx to an
infinitesimal area dA
x is the distance from the neutral axis yy to an
infinitesimal area dA

}
}
=
=
A
yy
A
xx
dA x I
dA y I
2
2
Example 1: Rectangular section
( )
12
8 8 3 3
3
3 3
2
2
3 2
2
2 2
bd
I
d d b y
b bdy y dA y I
xx
d
d
d
d
A
xx
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ = = = =

} }
Example 2: Hollow sections
Rectangular hollow sections




I sections
12 12
3
2 2
3
1 1
d b d b
I
xx
=
12
2
12
3 3
ch bd
I
xx
=
Example 3: Circular sections and Circular
hollow sections
4
4
r
I
xx
t
=
( )
4
2
4
1
4
r r I
xx
=
t
Neutral axis (NA) of non-symmetric
sections.
When the section is non-symmetric, we need to find the
location y
c
of the neutral axis with respect to a datum
which is usually chosen at the base of the section







The sign shows the contributions from all n
elements of the cross section.

=
=
=
n
i
i
n
i
i i
c
A
h A
y
1
1

Neutral axis of non-symmetric sections.

=
+ =
n
i
i i i
d A I I
1
2
Example: Calculate I
xx
for T section





(200x20 + 500x10) y
c
= 200x20x510 +
500x10x250

Hence
y
c
= 365.5 mm

=
=
=
n
i
i
n
i
i i
c
A
h A
y
1
1
Example: Calculate I
xx
for T section




d
1
= 510 - 365.5 = 144.5 mm
d
2
= 365.5 - 250 = 115.5 mm
I
xx
= 200x20
3
/12 +
200x20x(144.5)
2
+ 10x500
3
/12 + 10x500x(115.5)
2

Hence
I
xx
= 254,522,250 mm
4

=
+ =
n
i
i i i
d A I I
1
2
Elastic section modulus
Formulae
Elastic section modulus Z of a beam is the ratio of
a cross section's second moment of area I to the
distance of the extreme compressive fibre from the
neutral axis



The elastic section modulus marks the yield point of
the material when the most outer fibre starts to yield
due to bending moment M
y
=Zf
y

max
y
I
Z =
Plastic section modulus
Meaning and usage
It is also known by other name First Moment
of Area
Plastic section modulus S associates with
the full plasticity of the whole section. It is the
state where no strain hardening occurred is
assumed and the stress anywhere of the cross
section equals to yield stress f
y
It is used to compute the plastic moment (full
capacity of a cross-section) M
p
= Sf
y

Define location of the PNA
The plastic neutral axis PNA, which is also referred to as
the equal area axis, is the axis that splits the cross
section into two equal areas. These areas refer to the
equal amount of fibres yielded under compression and
tension respectively.
For symmetric section, the plastic and elastic neutral
axis coincide. They are the axis through the centroid of
the section.
For non-symmetric section, location y the PNA with
respect to a datum which is usually chosen at the base
of the section is defined







Define location of the PNA
To locate the PNA,
compute distance y
between the PNA and
the bottom base






Total area = (200 x 40) + (400 x 40) = 24000 mm
2
Check: 200x40 < 24000/2
Hence we have: 40 x y = 24000/2

Hence y=300
Calculate S
S is computed as the sum of moment of element
areas about the PNA



S: the plastic section modulus
A
i
: area of element i
th
e
i
: distance between the neutral axis of element i
th

and the plastic neutral axis of the whole section.

=
=
n
i
i i
e A S
1
Example: T section
y=300





S = (200 x 40 x 120) + (100 x 40 x 50) + (300
x 40 x 150)
Hence, S = 2960 x 10
3
mm
3

Next lecture
Investigate the loads acting on the structure
in terms of
Permanent load (dead load)
Imposed load (live load)
Load factors to comply with limit state design and
member design to AS4100
Read
AS/NZS 1170.1:2002