Economic aspect of square hollow section (SHS) in the design of multi-storey unbraced steel frame

Abstract

In this study, the square hollow section (SHS) is used as vertical member in the design of multi-storey unbraced steel frame. The wind moment method is adopted in this study for the analysis and design. The square hollow section (SHS) is chosen as the column of the steel frame due to its high rigidity and structural efficiency as compared to conventional H-section. This study is comparing the design using square hollow section (SHS) and H-section (UC) as column in multistorey unbraced steel frame in terms of steel weight savings. The study consists of a series of 2-bay and 4-bay plane frames with 2, 4, 6 and 8 storey heights in conjunction with two different load cases. Structural design is conducted by selecting the optimum steel section for vertical and horizontal members of the steel frames. The selection was carried out in such a way that the behaviour and performance of the structure was within the limitations suggested by BS EN 1993-1-1: 2005. From the results, the steel weight savings are in the range of 12% to 35% by using square hollow section (SHS). Study has shown that the use of square hollow section (SHS) may contribute significant steel weight saving and more economical design. The StaadPro software had been used to compare the accuracy of sway deflection calculated using the graphical Wood’s method that outlined in wind-moment method. From the comparison, the difference between sway deflections is within 7mm and it is shown that the graphical Wood’s method is sufficiently accurate to calculate the deflections of rigid frame.