Structural Steel Construction Flashcards

These vocabulary flashcards cover structural steel shapes, framing systems, column and beam types, connections, joists, decking, trusses, and joining methods such as welding and riveting based on the Building Construction IV lecture.

Channels

Structural steel shapes with an unsymmetrical balance consisting of two flanges on one side; they require lateral support to prevent buckling and are often used for framing around floor openings, spandrels, and lintels.

C 15 x 20

A channel section identification signifying a depth of $20\,cm$ and a weight of $15\,kg$ per meter length.

W 12 x 24

A wide flange section designation signifying the flange has a depth of $24\,cm$ and weighs $12\,kg$ per meter length.

Zees

A structural form shaped like the letter Z, primarily used for the fabrication of steel windows and other frames rather than general building construction.

One-Way Beam System

A framing system where each pair of external columns supports a long-spanning beam or girder, suitable for long, narrow buildings where column-free interior space is desired.

Two-Way Beam System

A two-layer framing system where beams frame into girders, increasing floor depth and providing space for mechanical systems while girders span the short axis for lateral stability.

Three-Way Beam System

A framing system used for large column-free spaces where long-spanning plate girders or trusses carry primary beams, which in turn support secondary beams.

Struts

Compression members in roof trusses or light towers made of one or two angles; double struts are riveted together with washers at intervals of $4$ to $6\,ft$.

Latticed Columns

Columns made of channels or angles connected by lattice bars, used when light loads must be supported on long columns.

Battened columns

Columns where two component parts are connected only by batten plates; they are considered inferior to latticed columns.

Lally Columns

Columns composed of a cylindrical steel pipe shell filled with $1:1-1/2:3$ Portland cement concrete.

Composite Columns

Columns featuring a concrete core reinforced with a steel or cast-iron core, such as structural H-sections or four angles, intended to support part of the load.

Plate Girders

Beams composed of a wide web plate with angles and plates riveted at the top and bottom; the web is often reinforced against buckling by stiffener angles.

Box Girders

A type of built-up beam that utilizes more than one web plate.

Moment Connections (AISC Type 1)

Also known as Rigid Frame connections, these are designed to hold their original angle under loading by developing a specified resisting moment.

Shear Connections (AISC Type 2)

Simple Frame connections designed to resist only shear and are free to rotate under gravity loads; they require shear walls or diagonal bracing for lateral stability.

Semi-Rigid Connections (AISC Type 3)

Frame connections that assume beam and girder connections possess a limited but known moment-resisting capacity.

Open-Web Steel Joists

Lightweight, shop-fabricated steel members with a trussed web, such as the K series (single bent bar), LH, or DLH series.

Form Decking

Metal decking that serves as permanent formwork for a reinforced concrete slab until the slab can support itself and its live loads.

Composite Decking

Metal decking with an embossed rib pattern that serves as tensile reinforcement for the concrete slab to which it is bonded.

Cellular Decking

Metal decking made by welding a corrugated sheet to a flat steel sheet, creating raceways for electrical and communications wiring.

Counterbrace

A truss web-member designed to resist either tension or compression depending on the point of load application.

Bent

A structural unit consisting of a roof truss and the columns that support it at its ends.

Bay

The portion of the roof located between two adjacent trusses.

Complete Frame

A truss made of the minimum number of members ($n = 2p - 3$) required to provide a complete system of triangles fixing the panel joint positions.

Rigid Frames

A statically indeterminate structure consisting of two columns and a beam rigidly connected at joints, causing applied loads to produce axial, bending, and shear forces in all members.

Tubular Frame

A skyscraper framing system where external columns are structurally merged with lattice bracing or spandrel girders to form a vast rigid tube, exemplified by the John Hancock Center.

Rivet

A short pin of malleable metal with a head at one end used to unite metal plates by passing it through holes and hammering the point to form a second head.

Fillet Weld

The most common type of structural weld, having an approximately triangular section and joining two surfaces roughly at right angles.

Groove Weld

A weld made by depositing filler material into a groove (square, V, bevel-U, or J) between two members.