Here are the basics:
1.Conceive your steel structure.
2.Check to see if the shape of the structure and arrangement will fulfill the function it was intended for.
3.Idealize it as an assembly of basic elements (bars, beams, columns, plates, shells etc.)
4.Decide how these elements are assembled and the nature of the connections.
5.Decide where and how the structure will be supported and the nature of the supports ( technically called specifying support conditions)
6.Choose the material grades (Mild steel, high strength low alloy steel ) and cross sectional shapes (I sections, Channel sections, rectangular or square or circular hollow tubes etc.) depending on the function it is to serve, material availability, costs, and preferences of the customer, and also a preliminary estimate of the strength that will be needed. This will call for experience.
7.Choose preliminary sizes of the members (that is, dimensions and thicknesses) of each of the above shapes selected, for testing based on your past experience and using precedents.
8.Assess the various loads the structure will be called upon to resist. These include the structure’s own weight, superimposed loads during its service, winds, earthquakes etc.
9.Analyze the structure using mathematical techniques and arrive at the various types of internal forces the elements of the structure will have to resist (like Bending moments, axial thrusts, tensions, shears etc). Do this independently for each of the anticipated loads and combine them judiciously to arrive at the worst case scenario for each element in the structure.
10.Check the preliminary selected sizes and see if these sizes are safe and can resist the forces that they will be called upon to resist, using the stress calculation procedures and rules specified in all standard texts in Structural analysis and in design manuals and in the codes of practice. Also check if the deformations at various parts of the structure are within allowable limits.
11.Identify overstressed members and increase their sizes. Identify under-stressed elements and decrease their sizes. Review support conditions and the nature of the connections and the repeat the analysis (as in 9. above), till you arrive at a satisfactory structural assembly, with optimum sizes that meet functional and safety requirements and also meet all zonal regulations and codal requirements.
12.Prepare a set of drawings outlining your finalized proposals and make a detailed estimate of your quantity requirements and issue a bill of materials.
Your structural steel design is now ready.
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