Steel Design

ASDIP STEEL is an engineering software that performs the structural design of steel members and connections, such as composite / non-composite beams, steel columns, base plates, anchoring to concrete, shear connections, and moment connections. 

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Structural steel is used in many industrial, commercial, and office buildings. Most typical buildings are frames structures consisting of beams and columns, either rigidly connected, or having diagonal bracing to provide stability.

A typical building floor may be supported by a series of steel beams and girders, which in turn are supported by the building steel columns or walls. The loads are then transferred to the foundation. The structural analysis consists on the calculation of the effects of the loads applied to the structure, also called the internal forces or required strengths. These are typically the shear and axial forces as well as the bending moments along the members that compose the structure.

The Steel Design Process

The steel design process consists of the interpretation of the analysis results and the application of the building code provisions to produce members both economic and structurally safe for the intended use. For example a composite beam design will consist of the calculation of the required structural properties of the section and the number of shear studs to produce the required flexural and shear strength along the beam. The variation of these internal forces if usually represented by the shear and moment diagrams.

A steel column design mainly consists in the calculation of the section properties to generate the interaction diagram that represents the structural capacity. A base plate design consists in the calculation of the bearing stresses that produce a bending moment on the plate. The plate thickness is then calculated applying the steel design theory.

Normally the connections of beam to beam or beam to column transfer only shear forces between the connected members. This is called a shear connection. The design implies checking the different limit states to find the connection strength. The applied load at the connection is then compared to verify the adequacy of the connection.

A moment connection transfer bending moments between the beam to column flange, with full rotation restraint between the members. The design implies checking the different limit states to find the connection strength. The applied moment at the connection is then compared to the connection design strength.

ASDIP STEEL includes the design of all these types of structural members described above. The ASDIP team has published a series of blog posts on a regular basis covering many technical topics related to the design of steel structures. Our philosophy is to provide the engineering community in general, and particularly our customers, the required tools to complete the structural design tasks effectively in less time and with less effort. You are invited to download the 15-day free trial using the buttons below.