FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIESCivil Engineering

CIVL3206: STEEL STRUCTURES 1Semester 2, 2014 | 6 Credit Points | Mode: Normal-Day Coordinator(s): Tim Wilkinson

1. INTRODUCTION

This unit of study is concerned with the behaviour and design of steel structures. Statics provided thefundamentals of equilibrium upon which most structural engineering is based. Structural Concepts andStructural Analysis provided information on the loads (actions) on a structure and how structures resist theseactions with a resulting distribution of internal actions (bending moments, shear forces, axial forces; BMDs,SFDs and AFDs). Structural Mechanics considered how these internal actions resulted in stresses and strains inmembers. Materials considered the microscopic and molecular structure of metals to determine its inherentmechanical properties such as yield stress. This unit of study will then combine the knowledge of stresses,material properties of steel, structural analysis, and loading, and consider new concepts and modes of failure,such as local and flexural torsional buckling, combined actions and second-order effects to understand thebehaviour of steel members and frames, and how this behaviour is accounted for in the design standard AS4100.

Both the units of study “Steel Structures 1” and “Concrete Structures 1” can be considered the culmination ofthe various elements of structural engineering begun in “Engineering Mechanics” in first year, and is furtherdeveloped in “Civil Engineering Design” in final year. More advanced topics, such as plate behaviour, advancedbuckling and connection design, are considered in the final year elective subject “Steel Structures 2”.

It is recognised that not all students intend to become consulting structural engineers. The unit of study isdesigned so that students who make an effort to understand the concepts are most capable of passing. Studentswho are planning a career in the consulting structural engineering profession should be aiming at achieving aDistinction grade or higher.

2. LEARNING OUTCOMES

Learning outcomes are the key abilities and knowledge that will be assessed in this unit. See assessmentsummary table below for details of which outcomes are assessed where. Outcomes are listed according to thecourse goals that they support.

Design (Level 3)1. Competence in designing a simple structure to AS 4100.

Engineering/IT Specialisation (Level 2)2. Familiarity with the behaviour of steel structures, in particular the various forms of failure formembers and connections under tension, compression, bending and combined actions.3. Understanding of the various types of buckling that occur, and the parameters which affect buckling.4. Ability to determine strength capacities of individual members to AS 410.

Information Seeking (Level 2)5. Ability to follow most other structural design specifications, given their similarities to AS 4100.

For further details of course goals related to these learning outcomes, see online unit outline athttp://cusp.eng.usyd.edu.au/students/view-unit-page/alpha/CIVL3206 .

3. ASSESSMENT TASKS

ASSESSMENT SUMMARYAssessment name Team-based? Weight Due Outcomes AssessedFinal Exam No 50% Exam Period 1, 2, 3, 4, 5Project No 30% Multiple Weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5Quiz No 10% Multiple Weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5Report No 10% Multiple Weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5Assignment No 0% Multiple Weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

ASSESSMENT DESCRIPTION

Final Exam: There is a 3 hour examination at the end of the semester. The questions will be of a similar format tothe questions in the tutorials. For each of the 5 main topics (tension, compression, bending, combined actions,and connections) there will be both an explanation-type and a numerical question. The “explanation” questionstest understanding of the subject. Questions related to the design project and laboratory sessions maybeincluded in the final exam.

The final examination is partial open book. Students are permitted to bring in annotated versions of AustralianStandard AS 4100 (or the student handbook HB2.2), and a programmable calculator. No additional writtenmaterial is permitted in the examination room (inserts may not be added to the aforementioned books). Moredetails on the format of the examination will be given in lectures, and the nature of the examination describedabove is subject to change.

CIVL3206: Steel Structures 1 (Semester 2, 2014)

Quiz: Two short (approximately 1 hour) quizzes will be held (2 x 5% = 10%). The main aim of the quizzes is toexamine the students’ understanding of the main concepts in the unit of study covered to that date, andfamiliarity with the use of AS 4100, without excessive calculations. The quizzes will provide feedback to thestudents on their individual performance, and help the lecturer identify students at risk. Students should beaiming to achieve a mark of at least 65 % in these simple quizzes.

Project: A major design exercise forms a central part of this unit of study. Students will be required to design thecritical components of a real steel structure in various stages. To spread the workload over the semester, therewill be four separate submissions due throughout the semester (4 x 7.5% = 30%). An essential criterion in thisunit of study is the submission of all 4 parts of the design exercise. The individual components are loads andlayout; structural analysis, tension/compression design; and bending/compression design. The design exercise isintegrated into the unit of study - eg there are the lectures on compression, followed by the tutorial oncompression and finally the design exercise on compression. It is anticipated that the exercises will take 8 hourseach. Specific details of the design exercise and expectations will be included in a separate information sheet.

Report: A report on each of the two laboratory sessions is required (2 x 5% = 10%).

Assignment: Various tutorial questions will be distributed relating to each of the five major topics covered in theunit of study. The tutorial questions are designed to complement the lecture material, and many importantobservations can be made from performing the tutorial questions. For this reason, students should aim tocomplete some of the questions immediately, and most of the questions as they progress through the semester,rather than waiting till Stuvac. In addition, the tutorial questions prepare students for the correspondingcomponent of the design exercise. While these questions are not officially assessed, they are an important part ofthe learning process in this unit of study.

ASSESSMENT GRADINGFinal grades in this unit are awarded at levels of HD (High Distinction), D (Distinction), CR (Credit), P (Pass) andF (Fail) as defined by University of Sydney Assessment Policy. Details of the Assessment Policy are available onthe Policies website at http://sydney.edu.au/policies . Standards for grades in individual assessment tasks and thesummative method for obtaining a final mark in the unit will be set out in a marking guide supplied by the unitcoordinator. In addition to the normal 50 % total mark, the following criteria must be met to achieve a pass: (1) Finalexamination mark of at least 45 %, (2) Assessment mark of at least 45 %, (3) Attendance at the laboratorysessions & satisfactory report submissions and (4) Satisfactory submission of each design exercise.Students who do not meet all the criteria will not receive a pass in the unit of study, and regardless oftheir performance in individual components of the unit of study, will not receive a mark greater than 45%. Students should note that satisfying the non-exam criteria listed above does not necessarily imply thatthey have achieved “satisfactory progress” as mentioned below.

4. ATTRIBUTES DEVELOPED

Attributes listed here represent the course goals designated for this unit. The list below describes how theseattributes are developed through practice in the unit. See Learning Outcomes and Assessment sections above fordetails of how these attributes are assessed.

Attribute MethodDesign (Level 3) Ability to design simple structures.Engineering/IT Specialisation (Level2)

Observing how the theories in steel structures (such as buckling) arederived from fundamental equilibrium, physics and mathematics.Validating some of these theories through experimentation andpractice problems. Appreciating how these theories of structuralbehaviour relate to practical design.

Information Seeking (Level 2) Students will receive data in a variety of forms: printed, WWW, email,experimental, and will use a variety of tools and resources to solveproblems

Communication (Level 2) Assessment results depends on how well the student hascommunicated the solution process through calculation, reasoning,explanation, justification and diagrams.

For further details of course goals and professional attribute standards, see the online version of this outline athttp://cusp.eng.usyd.edu.au/students/view-unit-page/alpha/CIVL3206 .

5. STUDY COMMITMENT

Tutorial: Various tutorial questions will be distributed relating to each of the five major topics covered in the unitof study. It is hoped that students could complete most of the tutorial questions, and about 33 % - 50 % of thedesign exercises, during the timetabled tutorial sessions.

Laboratory: Students are required to attend two 2-hour laboratory sessions during the semester. This givesstudents the opportunity to experience some structural behaviour and failures at close hand.

Independent Study: Students should expect to spend around 3 hours per week outside university hours, mainlyworking on tutorial questions or lab reports per week.

CIVL3206: Steel Structures 1 (Semester 2, 2014)

Activity Hours per Week Sessions per Week Weeks per SemesterLecture 3.00 3 13Tutorial 3.00 3 13Laboratory 2.00 1 2Independent Study 3.00 13

Standard unit of study workload at this university should be from 1.5 to 2 hours per credit point which means 9-12 hours for a normal 6 credit point unit of study. For units that are based on research or practical experience,hours may vary. For lecture and tutorial timetable, see University timetable site at:web.timetable.usyd.edu.au/calendar.jsp

6. TEACHING STAFF AND CONTACT DETAILS

COORDINATOR(S)Name Room Phone Email Contact noteDr Wilkinson, Tim tim.wilkinson@sydney.edu.au

LECTURERSName Room Phone Email Contact noteDr Wilkinson, Tim tim.wilkinson@sydney.edu.au

7. RESOURCES

RECOMMENDED REFERENCES

Woolcock, ST, Kitipornchai, S and Bradford, MA, Limit State Design of Portal Frame Buildings (2nd).Australian Institute of Steel Construction, 1993.

NS Trahair and MA Bradford, The Behaviour and Design of Steel Structures to AS 4100 (3rd). E & FN Spon,1998.

COURSE WEBSITE(S)

http://www.civil.usyd.edu.au/courses/civl3206

NOTE ON RESOURCES

CIVL 3206 Steel Structures 1 Lecture Notes by Greg Hancock, Murray Clarke & Tim Wilkinson (2007) – availablefrom the University Publishing Service.

8. ENROLMENT REQUIREMENTS

ASSUMED KNOWLEDGE

CIVL2110 AND CIVL2201 AND CIVL2230. There are no prerequisites for this unit of study but it is assumed thatstudents are competent in the content covered in CIVL2201 Structural Mechanics, CIVL2230 Introduction toStructural Concepts and Design as well as knowledge of the content in CIVL3235 Structural Analysis. Studentswho have failed previous units of study should note that no special consideration will be given to them if they dochoose to enrol in this unit of study (on the basis of timetable clashes or lack of knowledge of basics), and theyare discouraged from enrolling in this unit of study. Students who have not yet passed first or second year unitsof study must enrol in those units of study in precedence to any later year units of study. It is assumed thatstudents are competent in the following areas: the methods of load transfer in structures – tension, compression,bending, shear, torsion, and bearing; an appreciation of stress and strain, and being able to determine stressesand strains in simple sections under axial force, bending moments, shear and torsion; calculating andunderstanding the physical significance of geometric section properties – centroid, Ix, Iy, Zx, Zy, Sx, Sy, rx, ry, J,Ag; knowledge of the basic elastic-plastic material properties of steel, E, G, fy, fu; and knowledge of loading ofstructures. A special “assumed knowledge” lecture will be given in Week 1 to refresh the knowledge of students.

PREREQUISITES

None.

9. POLICIES

See the policies page of the faculty website at http://sydney.edu.au/engineering/student-policies/ for informationregarding university policies and local provisions and procedures within the Faculty of Engineering andInformation Technologies.

10. WEEKLY SCHEDULE

Note that the "Weeks" referred to in this Schedule are those of the official university semester calendarhttps://web.timetable.usyd.edu.au/calendar.jsp

Week Topics/ActivitiesWeek 1 Welcome.

CIVL3206: Steel Structures 1 (Semester 2, 2014)

Intro to the Design Exercise.Assumed Knowledge Session.

Week 2 Structural Steel/Standards.Structure Layout & Loading.

Week 3 Frame & Truss Analysis.Tension Members.

Week 4 Compression Members.Frame & Truss Analysis.

Week 5 Compression Members.Tension/Compression.

Week 6 Truss Design Briefing.Tension/Compression.

Week 7 Beams.Truss Design.

Week 8 Beams.Truss Design.

Week 9 Beams.Frames & Beam-Columns.

Week 10 Beam-Columns.Civil Engineering Workshop Tour.ASI Lecture (to be confirmed).

Week 11 Frame Design Briefing.Frames & Beam-Columns.Beam-Columns.

Week 12 Connections.Practical Steel Design.

Week 13 Unit of study Summary.Connections.Frame Design.

Exam Period Assessment Due: Final Exam

CIVL3206: Steel Structures 1 (Semester 2, 2014)