Overview Page 1 of 13

COMPUTERS AND STRUCTURES, INC., BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA DECEMBER 2001

COMPOSITE BEAM DESIGN AISC-LRFD93
Technical Note
Moment Capacity for Steel Section Alone
This Technical Note describes how the program calculates the moment capac-
ity of a noncomposite steel beam, including a cover plate, if applicable.
Overview
The program only calculates the moment capacity, M
n
, if the beam is compact
or noncompact. It does not calculate M
n
if the section is slender.
The plastic moment, M
p
, for a noncomposite rolled steel beam section without
a cover plate is calculated as M
p
= ZF
y
.
The exact methodology used to compute the plastic moment capacity in the
other cases depends on whether the beam, including the cover plate if it ex-
ists, is doubly or singly symmetric, and whether the beam web is classified as
compact or noncompact.
Figure 1 shows a flowchart that directs you to the appropriate section in this
chapter for calculating the moment capacity of the steel section alone. The
figure has boxes labeled a through g; start in the box labeled a. Note that the
criteria used by the program to determine if a section is compact or noncom-
pact for the AISC-LRFD93 specification is described in Technical Note Compact
and Noncompact Requirements Composite Beam Design AISC-LRFD93.
Steel BeamProperties
If properties for the steel section alone are available directly from the pro-
gram's section database, those properties are used to compute the moment
capacity. For other cases such as a user-defined section or a section with a
cover plate, the section properties are calculated in a manner similar to that
described in Technical Note Transformed Section Moment of Inertia Compos-
ite Beam Design AISC-ASD89, except that there is no concrete or reinforcing
steel to consider.
Composite Beam Design AISC-LRFD93 Moment Capacity for Steel Section Alone
Moment Capacity for a Doubly Symmetric Beam or a Channel Section Page 2 of 13
After the moment of inertia has been calculated, the section moduli and ra-
dius of gyration are calculated using standard formulas. This process is re-
peated to get properties about both axes. The torsional constant is deter-
mined by summing up the torsional constants for the various components of
the section. For example it may be determined by summing the J's of a rolled
section and the cover plate, if applicable, or in a user-defined section, by
summing the J's for the top flange, web, bottom flange and cover plate, if ap-
plicable.
Moment Capacity for a Doubly Symmetric Beamor a
Channel Section
Figure 2 shows a flowchart that determines the equations the program uses
to calculate M
n
for a doubly symmetric steel section alone or a channel section
alone. The figure has boxes labeled a through k; start in the box labeled a.
Is section doubly
symmetric or a
channel?
Yes
No
Refer to
Moment
Capacity for a
Doubly Symmetric
Beam or a
Channel Section
in this
Technical Note.
Is the beam web
compact?
Yes
No
Is the beam web
noncompact?
Yes
No
Beam section is
classified as
slender and is not
designed. Go to
next trial section.
Refer to
Moment
Capacity for a
Singly Symmetric
Beam with a
Compact Web
in this
Technical Note.
Refer to
Moment
Capacity for a
Singly Symmetric
Beam with a
Noncompact
Web in this
Technical Note.
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Figure 1: Flowchart For Determining Which Section of this Chapter Appli es in
Calculating Plastic Moment for Steel Section Alone
Composite Beam Design AISC-LRFD93 Moment Capacity for Steel Section Alone
Moment Capacity for a Doubly Symmetric Beam or a Channel Section Page 3 of 13
Information relating to how the program calculates the compact and noncom-
pact section requirements is in Technical Note Compact and Noncompact Re-
quirements Composite Beam Design AISC-LRFD93.
The following subsection discusses the unbraced length checks in the program
that are used to determine how to calculate M
n
for a doubly symmetric beam
or a channel section. Subsequent subsections discuss each of the code sec-
tions mentioned in Figure 2 that are used to calculate the moment capacity.
Are the web,
compression
flange and
compression
cover plate
compact?
Yes
No
Is L
b
L
p
?
Yes
Is L
b
L
r
?
No
Yes
Determine Mn
based on smallest
of yielding criteria
in AISC-LRFD93
Section F1.1 and
lateral torsional
buckling criteria
in AISC-LRFD93
Section F1.2a.
No
Determine Mn
based on yielding
criteria in AISC-
LRFD93 Section
F1.1.
Is L
b
L
r
?
Yes
Determine Mn
based on smallest
of yielding criteria
in AISC-LRFD93
Section F1.1,
lateral torsional
buckling criteria
in AISC-LRFD93
Section F1.2a and
flange and web
local buckling
criteria in AISC-
LRFD93 Appendix
F1(b) equation (A-
F1-3).
Are the
compression
flange and
compression
cover plate
compact?
Yes
No
Beam section not
designed. Go to
next trial section.
No
Is the web
noncompact?
No
Yes
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
Beam section not
designed. Go to
next trial section.
Figure 2: Flowchart For Calcul ating M
n
for a Doubly Symmetri c Steel
Section Alone or a Roll ed Channel Steel Section Alone
Composite Beam Design AISC-LRFD93 Moment Capacity for Steel Section Alone
Moment Capacity for a Doubly Symmetric Beam or a Channel Section Page 4 of 13
Lateral Unbraced Length Checks
The unbraced lengths listed in Figure 2 are L
b
, L
p
and L
r
. Definitions of each of
these items are listed below.
L
b
= Laterally unbraced length of beam; length between points
which are braced against lateral displacement of the com-
pression flange, in.
Lp = Limiting laterally unbraced length of beam for full plastic
bending capacity, in.
Lr = Limiting laterally unbraced length of beam for inelastic lat-
eral-torsional buckling, in.
The unbraced length of a beam, or a beam segment, L
b
is determined from
the input data. The limiting unbraced length for full plastic capacity, L
p
, is
determined from Equation 1 which is also Equation F1-4 in AISC-LRFD93.
yf
y
p
F
300r
L Eqn. 1
In Equation 1, r
y
is taken for the steel beam section including the cover plate,
if applicable. The F
yf
term in Equation 1 is for the compression flange.
The limiting unbraced length for lateral torsional buckling, L
r
, is determined
from Equation 2 which is also Equations F1-6 through F1-8 in AISC-LRFD93.
yw r yf L
2
x
y
w
2
x
1
2
L 2
L
1 y
r
F and ) F (F of smaller F
GJ
S
I
C
4 X and
2
EGJA
S
X
where , F X 1 1
F
X r
L

,
_

+ +
!
Eqn. 2
In Equation 2, F
r
, the compressive residual stress in the flange, is taken as 10
ksi for rolled shapes and 16.5 ksi for user-defined shapes. The warping con-
stant, C
w
, is based on the steel beam alone ignoring the cover plate if it ex-
ists. For rolled sections, including channels, the program takes C
w
from its
built-in database. For user-defined sections C
w
is calculated using Equation 3.
Composite Beam Design AISC-LRFD93 Moment Capacity for Steel Section Alone
Moment Capacity for a Doubly Symmetric Beam or a Channel Section Page 5 of 13
Note that Equation 3 actually applies to symmetrical sections but it is also
used when the flanges have different dimensions.
4
2
t
2
t
d I
C
2
bot f
top f
y
w

,
_

Eqn. 3
Yielding Criteria in AISC-LRFD93 Section F1.1
The yielding criteria is that M
n
= M
p
. The process for determining M
p
has been
previously described in the section entitled "Overview" in this technical note.
Lateral Torsional Buckling Criteria in AISC-LRFD93 Section F1.2a
The lateral torsional buckling criteria in AISC LRFD F1.2a is based on AISC-
LRFD93 Equation F1-2. In this case M
n
is given by Equation 4.
( )
p
M
L L
L L
M M M C M
p r
p b
r p p b n

1
1
]
1

,
_

Eqn. 4
In Equation 4, C
b
is calculated using Equation 5, which is also AISC-LRFD93
Equation F1-3.
C B A max
max
b
3M 4M 3M 2.5M
"2.5M
C
+ + +
Eqn. 5
Refer to the notation in Technical Note General and Notation Composite Beam
Design AISC-LRFD93 for an explanation of the terms in Equation 5.
In Equation 4, L
r
is calculated using Equation 2, L
p
is calculated from Equation
1 and M
r
comes from Equation 6.
x L r
S F M Eqn. 6
where F
L
is as described for Equation 2.
AISC-LRFD Appendix F1(b) Equation A-F1-3
The limit state for flange and web local buckling is based on AISC-LRFD93
Equation A-F1-3, which is shown herein as Equation 7.
Composite Beam Design AISC-LRFD93 Moment Capacity for Steel Section Alone
Moment Capacity for a Doubly Symmetric Beam or a Channel Section Page 6 of 13
( )

,
_

p r
p


r p p n
M M M M Eqn. 7
Equation 7 applies to both flange local buckling and web local buckling.
Flange Local Buckling
For flange local buckling using Equation 7:
! M
r
is calculated per Equation 6.
! is equal to b
f
/(2t
f
) for I-sections and b
f
/t
f
for channels. The b
f
and t
f
terms are for the compression flange.
!
p
is given by Equation 8a if the section is a rolled or user-defined I-
section, or Equation 8b if the section is a rolled channel. The F
yf
in these
equations is for the compression flange.
yf
f
f
F
65
2t
b
Eqn. 8a
yf
f
f
F
65
t
b
Eqn. 8b
!
r
is given by Equation 9a if the section is a rolled beam or channel, or
Equation 9b if it is a user-defined section.
L
F
"4"

r
, for rolled shapes Eqn. 9a
c
L
k
F
"62

r
, for user-defined shapes Eqn. 9b
In Equation 9a and 9b, F
L
is as defined for Equation 2. In Equation 9b,
w c
t h 4 k but not less than 0.35 k
c
0.763. Equations 9a and 9b are
taken from AISC-LRFD93 Table A-F1.1.
Web Local Buckling
For web local buckling using Equation 7:
Composite Beam Design AISC-LRFD93 Moment Capacity for Steel Section Alone
Moment Capacity for a Singly Symmetric Beam with a Compact Web Page 7 of 13
! M
r
is calculated using Equations 10 and 11 for both the top and bottom
flanges separately. The smaller value of M
r
is used.
M
r
= R
e
F
yf
S
x
Eqn. 10
In Equation 10, R
e
is equal to 1.0 for rolled shapes and is given by Equation
11 for user-defined shapes. Equation 10 is taken from AISC-LRFD93 Table A-
F1.1.
( )
".0
2a "2
m 3m a "2
R
r
3
r
e

+
+
Eqn. 11
Equation 11 comes from the definition of R
e
given with Equation A-G2-3 in
AISC-LRFD93 Appendix G. In Equation 11 the term a
r
is the ratio of the web
area (ht
w
) to the flange area (b
f
t
f
), but not more than 10, and m is the ratio
of the web yield stress to the flange yield stress.
! is equal to h/t
w
.
!
p
is given by Equation 5a, or 5b in Technical Note Compact and Noncom-
pact Requirements Composite Beam Design AISC-LRFD93 depending on
the axial load in the member, if any. See the description accompanying
these equations for more information.
!
r
is given by one of Equations 6 and 7 in Technical Note Compact and
Noncompact Requirements Composite Beam Design AISC-LRFD93 de-
pending on the type of member and the amount of axial compression, if
any. See the description accompanying these equations for more informa-
tion.
Moment Capacity for a Singly Symmetric Beamwith a
Compact Web
Figure 3 shows a flowchart that determines the equations the program uses
to calculate M
n
for a singly symmetric steel section alone with a compact web.
The figure has boxes labeled a through n; start in the box labeled a.
Most of the formulas associated with this flowchart are based on AISC-
LRFD93 Specification Appendix F section F1and Table A-F1.1.
Composite Beam Design AISC-LRFD93 Moment Capacity for Steel Section Alone
Moment Capacity for a Singly Symmetric Beam with a Compact Web Page 8 of 13
Information relating to how the program calculates the compact and noncom-
pact section requirements is in Technical Note Compact and Noncompact Re-
quirements Composite Beam Design AISC-LRFD93.
The following subsection describes the lateral torsional buckling (LTB) checks
in the program that are used to determine how to calculate M
n
for a singly
symmetric beam with a compact web. Subsequent subsections describe each
of the AISC-LRFD93 Specification Appendix F equations mentioned in Figure 3
that are used to calculate the moment capacity.
AISC-LRFD93 Equation A-F1-1 for WLB
For this case M
n
is equal to M
p
, the plastic moment capacity of the section.
Figure 3: Flowchart For Calcul ating M
n
for a Singl y Symmetric Steel Section
Al one with a Compact Web
Yes
Determine Mn
based on smallest
of the following
AISC-LRFD93
Appendix F
equations:
A-F1-1 for WLB
A-F1-1 for FLB
A-F1-1 for LTB.
Is web compact?
Yes
Is beam compact
for LTB?
Yes
No
No
Is beam
noncompact for
LTB?
No
Determine Mn
based on smallest
of the following
AISC-LRFD93
Appendix F
equations:
A-F1-1 for WLB
A-F1-1 for FLB
A-F1-2 for LTB.
Are the
compression
flange and
compression
cover plate
compact?
Yes
No
Yes
Determine Mn
based on smallest
of the following
AISC-LRFD93
Appendix F
equations:
A-F1-1 for WLB
A-F1-3 for FLB
A-F1-1 for LTB.
Is beam compact
for LTB?
Yes
No
Is beam
noncompact for
LTB?
No
Determine Mn
based on smallest
of the following
AISC-LRFD93
Appendix F
equations:
A-F1-1 for WLB
A-F1-3 for FLB
A-F1-2 for LTB.
No
Note: WLB= Web local buckling
FLB = Flange local buckling
LTB = Lateral torsional buckling
This is the wrong
flowchart. See
Figure 1.
a
b
c
d
e
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
Beam section not
designed. Go to
next trial section.
Beam section not
designed. Go to
next trial section.
Yes
f
Are the
compression
flange and
compression
cover plate
noncompact?
Composite Beam Design AISC-LRFD93 Moment Capacity for Steel Section Alone
Moment Capacity for a Singly Symmetric Beam with a Compact Web Page 9 of 13
AISC-LRFD93 Equation A-F1-1 for FLB
For this case M
n
is equal to M
p
, the plastic moment capacity of the section.
AISC-LRFD93 Equation A-F1-3 for FLB
AISC-LRFD93 Equation A-F1-3 for flange local buckling is interpreted by the
program as shown in Equations 12a through 12f.
( )
p r p p n
M M M M M

,
_

p r
p


Eqn. 12a
where
x L r
S F M Eqn. 12b
f
f
2t
b
Eqn. 12c
yf
p
F
65
Eqn. 12d
L
r
F
"4"
, rolled beams and channels Eqn. 12e
c
L
k
F
"62

r
, user-defined beams Eqn. 12f
In Equation 12b, F
L
and S
x
are for the beam compression flange (not cover
plate).
In Equations 12c and 12d, b
f
, t
f
and F
yf
are for the beam compression flange
(not cover plate).
In Equation 12e, F
L
is for the beam compression flange (not cover plate).
In Equation 12f, F
L
is for the beam compression flange (not cover plate), and
w c
t h 4 k but not less than 0.35 k
c
0.763.
Composite Beam Design AISC-LRFD93 Moment Capacity for Steel Section Alone
Moment Capacity for a Singly Symmetric Beam with a Compact Web Page 10 of 13
AISC-LRFD93 Equation A-F1-1 for LTB
For this case M
n
is equal to M
p
, the plastic moment capacity of the section.
AISC-LRFD93 Equation A-F1-2 for LTB
AISC-LRFD93 Equation A-F1-2 for lateral torsional buckling is interpreted by
the program as shown in Equations 13a through 13d and Equations 14a
through 14c.
( )
p r p p b n
M M M M C M
1
1
]
1

,
_

p r
p


Eqn. 13a
where,
xt yf xc L r
S F S F M Eqn. 13b
yc
b
r
L
Eqn. 13c
yf
p
F
300
Eqn. 13d
The term
r
in Equation 13a is the value of for which M
cr
as defined by
Equations 14a through 14c is equal to the smaller of F
L
S
xc
and F
yf
S
xt
where F
L
is the smaller of (F
yf
- F
r
) and F
yw
. When calculating F
L
, the term F
yf
is the
yield stress of the compression flange and when calculating F
yf
S
xt
, the term F
yf
is the yield stress of the tension flange.
( ) ( )
1
]
1

+ + +
2
" 2 " y
b
cr
B B " B J I
L
" 57000
M Eqn. 14a
where,
J
I
L
h
"
I
I
2 2.25 B
y
b y
yc
"
1
1
]
1

,
_

Eqn. 14b
2
b
yc
y
yc
2
L
h
J
I
I
I
" 25 B

,
_

,
_

,
_

Eqn. 14c
Composite Beam Design AISC-LRFD93 Moment Capacity for Steel Section Alone
Moment Capacity for a Singly Symmetric Beam with a Noncompact Web Page 11 of 13
To calculate
r
for Equation 13a, the program determines the value of L
b
for
which M
cr
is equal to the smaller of F
L
S
xc
and F
yf
S
xt
. Then it divides that value
of L
b
by r
yc
to get
r
.
Moment Capacity for a Singly Symmetric Beamwith a
Noncompact Web
Figure 4 shows a flowchart that determines the equations the program uses
to calculate M
n
for a singly symmetric steel section alone with a noncompact
web. The figure has boxes labeled a through n; start in the box labeled a.
Figure 4: Flowchart for Calculating M
n
for a Singly Symmetric Steel
Section Alone with a Noncompact Web
Yes
Determine Mn
based on smallest
of the following
AISC-LRFD93
Appendix F
equations:
A-F1-3 for WLB
A-F1-1 for FLB
A-F1-1 for LTB.
Is web
noncompact?
Yes
Is beam compact
for LTB?
Yes
No
No
Is beam
noncompact for
LTB?
No
Determine Mn
based on smallest
of the following
AISC-LRFD93
Appendix F
equations:
A-F1-3 for WLB
A-F1-1 for FLB
A-F1-2 for LTB.
Yes
Are the
compression
flange and
compression
cover plate
compact?
Yes
No
Yes
Determine Mn
based on smallest
of the following
AISC-LRFD93
Appendix F
equations:
A-F1-3 for WLB
A-F1-3 for FLB
A-F1-1 for LTB.
Is beam compact
for LTB?
Yes
No
Is beam
noncompact for
LTB?
No
Determine Mn
based on smallest
of the following
AISC-LRFD93
Appendix F
equations:
A-F1-3 for WLB
A-F1-3 for FLB
A-F1-2 for LTB.
No
Note: WLB= Web local buckling
FLB = Flange local buckling
LTB = Lateral torsional buckling
This is the wrong
flowchart. See
Figure 1.
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
Beam section not
designed. Go to
next trial section.
Beam section not
designed. Go to
next trial section.
Are the
compression
flange and
compression
cover plate
noncompact?
Composite Beam Design AISC-LRFD93 Moment Capacity for Steel Section Alone
Moment Capacity for a Singly Symmetric Beam with a Noncompact Web Page 12 of 13
Most of the formulas associated with this flowchart are based on AISC-
LRFD93 Specification Appendix F section F1and Table A-F1.1.
Information relating to how the program calculates the compact and noncom-
pact section requirements is in Technical Note Compact and Noncompact Re-
quirements Composite Beam Design AISC-LRFD93.
The lateral torsional buckling checks and all but one of the Appendix F equa-
tions mentioned in Figure 4 are described in the previous section entitled,
"Moment Capacity for a Singly Symmetric Beam with a Compact Web." Refer
to that section for more information.
The one equation that has not been described previously is AISC-LRFD93
Specification Appendix F Equation A-F1-3. This equation is described in the
following subsection.
AISC-LRFD93 Equation A-F1-3 for WLB
AISC-LRFD93 Equation A-F1-3 for web local buckling is interpreted by the
program as shown in Equations 15a through 15g.
( )
p r p p n
M M M M M

,
_

p r
p


Eqn. 15a
In Equation 15a:
! M
r
is calculated using Equations 15b and 15c for both the top and bottom
flanges separately. The smaller value of M
r
is used.
M
r
= R
e
F
yf
S
x
Eqn. 15b
In Equation 15b, R
e
is given by Equation 15c. Equation 15b is taken from
AISC-LRFD93 Table A-F1.1.
( )
".0
2a "2
m 3m a "2
R
r
3
r
e

+
+
Eqn. 15c
Equation 15c comes from the definition of R
e
given with Equation A-G2-3 in
AISC-LRFD93 Appendix G. In Equation 15c, the term a
r
is the ratio of the web
area (ht
w
) to the flange area (b
f
t
f
), but not more than 10, and m is the ratio
of the web yield stress to the flange yield stress.
Composite Beam Design AISC-LRFD93 Moment Capacity for Steel Section Alone
Moment Capacity for a Singly Symmetric Beam with a Noncompact Web Page 13 of 13
! is equal to h/t
w
.
!
p
is given by Equation 15d, or 15e depending on the axial load in the
member, if any.
0."25
P
P
for ,
P
P 75 . 2
"
F
640
y
u
y
u
y
p

,
_

b b

Eqn. 15d
0."25
P
P
for
,
F
253
P
P
33 . 2
F
"9"
y
u
y
y
u
y
p
>

,
_

b
b

Eqn. 15e
!
r
is given by either Equation 15f or Equation 15g.
Equation 15f defines
r
for beams with equal sized flanges.

,
_

y
u
y
r
P
.74P 0
"
F
970
b

Eqn. 15f
In Equation 15f, the value of F
y
used is the largest of the F
y
values for the
beam flanges and the web.
Equation 15g defines the noncompact section limit for webs in beams with
unequal size flanges:
2
3
h
h
4
3
where,
,
P
.74P 0
"
h
h
83 . 2 "
F
253
c
y
u
c
y
r

1
1
]
1

,
_

,
_

+
b

Eqn. 15g
In Equation 15g, the value of F
y
used is the largest of the F
y
values for the
beam flanges and the web. Equation 15g is based on Equation A-B5-1 in the
AISC-LRFD93 specification.