NEW CANADIAN PROVISIONS FOR THE DESIGN OF STEEL BEAM-COLUMNS

The beam-column interaction equations of the Canadian Standards Association Standard CAN3-S16.1-M84 "Steel structures for buildings-limit states design" are reviewed and areas of concern in the formulations are addressed. The interaction equations developed for the 1989 edition of the standard, CAN3-S16.1-M89 "Limit states design of steel structures," and the methods of dealing with the areas of concern in the previous standard are presented. The new standard requires that at least an approximate second-order geometric analysis be carried out. For frames dependent on the frame stiffness for lateral stability, no longer is the traditional method, using effective length factors greater than one, allowed. Unlike the current American Institute of Steel Construction "Load and resistance factor design" (AISC LRFD) specification, two sets of interaction equations, one for in-plane member strength and the other for out-of-plane stability, are used. This results in considerably less unnecessary conservatism. In both sets of interaction equations, the component of the moment due to translation is increased by the second-order effects. The "double omega" problem has been resolved and the minimum sway effects for the gravity loading case have been increased substantially to guard against sidesway buckling. A design example using the new standard is given. By means of a series of analytical examples, the requirements of S16.1-M89 are compared with the traditional method of S16.1-M84. For frames with direct-acting bracing, S16.1-M89 gives interaction values about 1.15 times those of the previous standard with a coefficient of variation of 0.08, while for unbraced frames the corresponding values are 0.98 and 0.07. The S16.1-M89 values reflecting greater rigor in a number of areas are considered the more valid. The S16.1-M89 standard would give comparable results to the AISC LRFD specification for class 1 sections when out-of-plane behaviour governs. The latter specification does not specifically cover cross-sectional strength and in-plane behaviour as does S16.1-M89.