Chapter 7 – COLUMN DESIGN

The John Hancock Center

- a 100-story, 1,128-foot supertall skyscraper located in Chicago, Illinois, USA

-built 1968, became the second tallest building in the world after the Empire State Building.
 Chapter 7 – COLUMN DESIGN

Designed by structural engineer Fazlur Khan.

The  STEEL X-BRACES combined with the EXTERIOR COLUMNS forms a STRUCTURAL

TUBE SYSTEM where it made the EXTERIOR WALL a load bearing
 Chapter 7 – COLUMN DESIGN

7-5 Frames with Concrete Floors

A floor of a 2D frame (and the columns therein) is considered braced if

there are actual lateral braces or shear walls with adequate stiifness to
limit the sidesway within acceptable limits prescribed by the NSCP.
Chapter 7 – COLUMN DESIGN
 Chapter 7 – COLUMN DESIGN

Using braces:
Chapter 7 – COLUMN DESIGN
Chapter 7 – COLUMN DESIGN
 Chapter 7 – COLUMN DESIGN

Using Moment Connections:

 Chapter 7 – COLUMN DESIGN

Using Shear Wall:

 Chapter 7 – COLUMN DESIGN

We see that a frame structure, often consisting of a series of rectangular

frames, will tend to rack) under lateral loads :
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All structures must have a proper lateral resistance system to prevent this.

a. Braced Frames
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b. Moment Frames
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c. Shear Walls
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Lateral Brace can be actual braces or shear walls:

 Chapter 7 – COLUMN DESIGN

It should be noted in the figure that the lateral brace can be an

actual braces or shear walls.

Also, not all bays need braces as long as the braces are stiff enough
to limit the sway of the whole floor.
 Chapter 7 – COLUMN DESIGN

Concrete floors in a building are considered to act as rigid diaphragms,

i.e. columns connected to this concrete floor deflect together with rigid
body displacements.

Hence, the presence of actual braces or shear walls with stiffness

designed to limit sidesway of the whole floor make all frames behave as
braced frames.
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In the figure below, the floor plan shows shear walls at all four corners
with their strong axis oriented in the X-axis.
 Chapter 7 – COLUMN DESIGN

This makes all columns “braced” in the X-axis.

This is because of the rigid concrete floor that makes all columns,
including those in the middle grids, deflect together in the X-direction.
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On the other hand, the columns are considered “unbraced” in the Z-

direction since the shear wall is considered to be “column” in its weak
axis.
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Problem:

Determine the Demand/Capacity ratio for the load combinations using LRFD for
DL, LL and Wind for the columns of the frame shown below.

Assume that the columns are oriented in the strong direction in the 2-D frame
and fully laterally supported in the weak axis.
 Chapter 7 – COLUMN DESIGN

Given:

The forces from the frame analysis are as follows:

Load, P Moment, M
Dead Load 98 kN 36 kN-m
Live Load 51 kN 12 kN-m
Wind Load 72 kN 28 kN-m

Columns: W12x152 Beams: W21x55

A = 28,800 mm2 Ix = 475 x 106 mm4
Ix = 595 x 106 mm4
rx = 194 mm
Zx = 3980 mm3

Use A-36 steel and f1 = 1.0 for live load.

 Chapter 7 – COLUMN DESIGN

Solution:

D/C ratio:
Pr + Mrx + Mry ≤ 1.0
2Pc Mcx Mcy

A. Consider first the Load combination 1.2D + 1.6L.

1. Determine the factored load Pr:

Pu = Pr = 1.2DL + 1.6LL

= 1.2(98) + 1.6(51)

= 199.2 kN
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2. To solve for Pc, first, we need to solve for the G’s at the top and bottom of the
column:

From Steel Table:

Column Ix = 595 x 106 mm4

Beam Ix = 475 x 106 mm4

GA = ∑ (I/L) column
∑ (I/L) beam
= (595/5.2)
(475/8.7)

= 2.09575
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GB = ∑ (I/L) column
∑ (I/L) beam
= (595/5.2)
0

∞
=

Note that GB denominator is zero since it is a hinge support and offers

no rotational resistance.
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GA GB
K
a. Sidesway prevented
(Braced frame)

The value for “k” is read from the nomograph and taken as k = 0.93
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3. Solve for the slenderness ratio kL/r.

From AISC Steel Table:

Column rx = 144 mm

kL/r = 0.93(5200)/144

= 33.583
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4. Solve for Fe and compare with 0.44Fy:

Fe = π 2 E
(kL/r)2

= π2 (200,000)
(33.583)2

= 1750.2 mPa

0.44Fy = 0.44(248)
= 109.12 mPa

Since Fe is greater than 0.44Fy, therefore the failure is due to Inelastic

Buckling.
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5. Solve for Fe based on the formula for inelastic buckling:

Fcr = [0.658 Fy/Fe] Fy

= [0.658 (248/1750.2)] 248

= 233.72 mPa
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6. Compute for the axial capacity Pc:

From AISC Steel Handbook

Column A = 28,800 mm2

Pc =  Fcr Ag

= 0.90(233.72)(28,800)/1000

= 6,058 kN
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7. Determine the factored moment Mr and Mc:

Mu = M r

= 1.2(36 kN-m) + 1.6(12 kN-m)

= 62.4 kN-m

8. The moment capacity is the plastic moment. The column is given to

be fully laterally supported in the weak axis direction.

From AISC Steel Table:

Column Zx = 3980 mm3

Mc = Zx Fy

= 3980 mm3(248 N/mm2)

= 987,040 N-mm
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9. Solve for Pr/Pc ratio and compare with the threshold limit of 0.2

Pr/Pc = 199.2 kN/6058 kN

= 0.033 < 0.2

Therefore use Equation 2.

10. Solve for D/C ratio from Equation 2:

Pr + Mrx + Mry ≤ 1.0
D/C ratio: 2Pc Mcx Mcy

= 199.2 + 62.4
2(6058) 987.04

= 0.087 < 1.0

 Chapter 7 – COLUMN DESIGN

B. Repeat the above process for the load combination 1.2DL + f1LL + 1.0W

1. Determine Pr

Pu = P r

= 1.2DL + f1LL + 1.0W

= 1.2(98) + 1.0(51) + 1.0(72)

= 240.6 kN
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2. The G’s of the column are the same as before.

GA = 2.09575

GB = ∞

The nomograph for sidesway (unbraced) is applicable here due to the

presence of the lateral (wind) load.
GA K GB

Therefore, k = 2.7
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3. Solve for the slenderness ratio kL/r.

From AISC Steel Table:

Column rx = 144 mm

kL/r = 2.7(5200)/144

= 97.5
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4. Solve for Fe and compare with 0.44Fy:

Fe = π 2 E
(kL/r)2

= π2 (200,000)
(97.5)2

= 207.64 mPa

0.44Fy = 0.44(248)
= 109.12 mPa

Since Fe is greater than 0.44Fy, therefore the failure is due to Inelastic

Buckling.
 Chapter 7 – COLUMN DESIGN

5. Solve for Fe based on the formula for inelastic buckling:

Fcr = [0.658 Fy/Fe] Fy

= [0.658 (248/207.65)] 248

= 150.44 mPa
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6. Compute for the axial capacity Pc:

From AISC Steel Handbook

Column A = 28,800 mm2

Pc =  Fcr Ag

= 0.90(150.44)(28,800)/1000

= 3,899.4 kN
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7. Determine the factored moment Mr and Mc:

Mu = M r

= 1.2(36) + 1.6(12) + 1.0(28)

= 83.2 kN-m

8. The moment capacity is the plastic moment. The column is given to

be fully laterally supported in the weak axis direction.

From AISC Steel Table:

Column Zx = 3980 mm3

Mc = Zx Fy

= 3980 mm3 (248 N/mm2)

= 987,040 N-mm
 Chapter 7 – COLUMN DESIGN

9. Solve for Pr/Pc ratio and compare with the threshold limit of 0.2

Pr/Pc = 240.6 kN/3899.4 kN

= 0.062 < 0.2

Therefore use Equation 2.

10. Solve for D/C ratio from Equation 2:

Pr + Mrx + Mry ≤ 1.0
D/C ratio: 2Pc Mcx Mcy

= 240.6 + 83.2
2(3899.4) 987.04

= 0.125 < 1.0

 Chapter 7 – COLUMN DESIGN

The above results shows that the column sizes here are too big
and iterations are needed to optimize the design by additional
trials until acceptable D/C ratio is attained.