Australian Guidebook for Structural Engineers

This guidebook is a practical and essential tool covering all the necessary steps for structural design engineers to create detailed and accurate calculations in accordance with Australian and international standards. General project requirements are explained in terms of project management and document control. Calculation methods and details are shown for actions (wind, seismic, dead and live loads). Design details are then provided for steel, concrete, timber, and geotechnical calculations (footings, piles, retaining walls, etc.). Detailed worked example calculations are included throughout the text, as well as typical CAD details for design drawings. Design items are explained for typical items of equipment found across various industries (e.g. piping, vessels, lifting, machine foundations, access, composite structures, bunds, and more). Design aids are provided, including guides and examples for popular engineering programs (Space Gass, Strand7 and Rhinoceros 3D). Comprehensive capacity tables are also included for steel and concrete elements. This edition has been updated to include the latest design requirements from Australian Standards, including Steel Structures (AS 4100–2020), Concrete Structures (AS 3600–2018) (including steel fibre reinforced concrete slabs), Earthquake Actions (AS 1170.4–2024), and basic requirements from Timber Structures (AS 1720.1–2010). Requirements from many more Australian Standards and international standards are also provided in the context of typical design projects. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Standards Australia Preface Authors 1 Setting up the project 1.1 Basis of design 1.2 Scope of works 1.3 Deliverables list 1.4 Budget 1.5 Schedule 1.6 Communications plan 1.7 Structural design criteria 1.7.1 Load factors and combinations 1.7.2 Construction category 1.8 Specifications 2 Design 2.1 Limit states design 2.2 Standards and legislation 2.3 Actions 2.3.1 Wind 2.3.1.1 Wind pressure 2.3.1.2 Wind on piping 2.3.1.3 Wind on exposed steelwork 2.3.1.4 Wind on multiple items 2.3.2 Seismic 2.3.2.1 Earthquake design categories 2.3.2.2 Site subsoil class 2.3.2.3 Probability factor 2.3.2.4 Hazard design factor 2.3.2.5 Design principles 2.3.2.6 Earthquake design category 1 (EDC1) 2.3.2.7 Earthquake design category 2 (EDC2) 2.3.3 Dead and live loads 2.3.3.1 Dead loads 2.3.3.2 Live loads 2.3.3.3 Buoyancy loads 2.3.3.4 Vehicle loads 2.4 Friction 2.5 Deflections 2.5.1 AS/NZS 1170 deflection requirements 2.5.2 AS 3600 deflection requirements 2.5.3 AS 4100 deflection requirements 3 Steel design 3.1 Material 3.1.1 Cost 3.1.2 Steel selection 3.2 Fabrication and erection 3.2.1 Framing system 3.2.2 Coating system 3.2.3 Transportation 3.3 Analysis 3.3.1 Section selection 3.3.2 Notional forces 3.3.3 Bracing 3.3.4 Connection eccentricity 3.4 Bending 3.4.1 Section capacity 3.4.1.1 Elastic section modulus 3.4.1.2 Plastic section modulus 3.4.1.3 Effective section modulus 3.4.2 Member capacity 3.4.2.1 Restraint types 3.4.2.2 Restraint element definitions 3.4.2.3 Members with full lateral restraint 3.4.2.4 Members without full lateral restraint 3.5 Shear 3.5.1 Unstiffened webs 3.5.1.1 Minimum web thickness 3.5.1.2 Web capacity 3.5.2 Combined bending and shear 3.5.3 Globally stiffened webs 3.5.4 Web bearing capacity 3.5.5 Web bearing stiffeners 3.5.6 Openings in webs 3.6 Tension 3.7 Compression 3.7.1 Section compression capacity 3.7.1.1 Effective cross-section 3.7.2 Member compression capacity 3.7.2.1 Effective length 3.7.2.2 Braces 3.8 Combined Actions 3.8.1 Combined section capacity 3.8.1.1 Axial load with uniaxial bending about the major principal x-axis 3.8.1.2 Axial load with uniaxial bending about the minor principal y-axis 3.8.1.3 Axial load with biaxial bending 3.8.2 Combined member capacity 3.8.2.1 Axial load with uniaxial bending: elastic analysis 3.8.2.2 Axial load with uniaxial bending: plastic analysis 3.8.2.3 Axial load with biaxial bending 3.9 Torsion 3.9.1 Uniform torsion 3.9.2 Warping torsion 3.9.3 Non-uniform torsion 3.9.4 Finite element analysis of torsion 3.9.5 Torsion calculations 3.9.5.1 Uniform torsion calculations 3.9.5.2 Warping torsion calculations 3.10 Connections 3.10.1 Minimum actions 3.10.2 Bolting 3.10.2.1 Bolt capacities 3.10.2.2 Bolt group analysis 3.10.2.3 General bolting requirements 3.10.3 Anchor bolts 3.10.3.1 Grout 3.10.3.2 Tension in anchor bolts 3.10.3.3 Shear in anchor bolts 3.10.3.4 Combined tension and shear in anchor bolts 3.10.4 Pin connections 3.10.5 Welding 3.10.5.1 Weld capacities 3.10.5.2 Weld group analysis 3.10.5.3 Weld symbols 3.10.5.4 General weld requirements 3.10.6 Plate analysis 3.10.6.1 Tension 3.10.6.2 Ply in bearing 3.10.6.3 Block shear 3.10.6.4 Compression 3.10.6.5 Shear 3.10.6.6 Bending 3.10.6.7 Yield line analysis 3.10.6.8 Base plates in compression 3.11 Elastic stress analysis 3.11.1 Principal stresses 3.11.2 Shear stresses 3.11.3 Typical beam stresses 3.11.4 Combined stress 3.12 Steel detailing 3.12.1 Steel notes 3.12.1.1 General 3.12.1.2 Steel 3.12.1.3 Welding 3.12.1.4 Bolting 3.12.1.5 Surface protection 3.12.1.6 Grouting 3.12.2 Additional steel details 3.12.3 Coping 3.12.4 Bracing cleat 3.12.5 Web side plate 3.12.6 End plates 3.12.7 Bolted moment connections 3.12.8 Welded moment connections 3.12.9 Base plates 4 Concrete design 4.1 Material 4.1.1 Concrete 4.1.2 Reinforcement 4.1.3 Cost 4.1.4 Cover 4.1.5 Bar development 4.1.5.1 Bars in tension 4.1.5.2 Lapped splices in tension 4.1.5.3 Bars in compression 4.1.5.4 Lapped splices in compression 4.2 Beams 4.2.1 General reinforcement requirements 4.2.2 Crack control 4.2.3 Beams in bending 4.2.3.1 Minimum strength requirements 4.2.3.2 Ultimate strength in bending 4.2.3.3 Singly reinforced beam 4.2.3.4 Doubly reinforced beam 4.2.3.5 Assumption method 4.2.4 Beams in shear 4.2.4.1 When to consider torsion effects 4.2.4.2 Ultimate shear strength 4.2.4.2 Shear reinforcement 4.2.4.3 Torsion reinforcement 4.2.4.4 Concrete shear strength 4.2.4.5 Maximum shear strength of section 4.2.4.6 Shear strength of ligatures 4.2.4.7 Torsion strength of ligatures 4.2.4.8 Combined torsion and shear strength of ligatures 4.2.4.9 Longitudinal reinforcement for shear and torsion 4.3 Slabs 4.3.1 Reinforcement requirements 4.3.1.1 Tensile reinforcement detailing 4.3.2 Crack control 4.3.2.1 Reinforcement in the primary direction 4.3.2.2 Reinforcement in the secondary direction 4.3.3 Analysis 4.3.3.1 Negative moment calculation 4.3.3.2 Positive moment calculation 4.3.3.3 Transverse shear calculation 4.3.4 Bending 4.3.5 Structural integrity reinforcement 4.3.6 Shear 4.3.6.1 Standard shear 4.3.6.2 Punching shear 4.3.7 Deflection check 4.3.7.1 Deemed-to-comply span/depth procedure 4.4 Columns 4.4.1 Reinforcement requirements 4.4.2 Effective length 4.4.3 Short columns 4.4.4 Slender columns 4.4.5 Columns in compression and bending 4.4.5.1 Squash load point 4.4.5.2 Squash load point through to decompression point 4.4.5.3 Decompression point through to pure bending 4.4.5.4 Decompression point 4.4.5.5 Balanced point 4.4.5.6 Pure bending point 4.4.5.7 Rectangular cross-sections 4.4.5.8 Circular cross-sections 4.5 Elastic analysis 4.5.1 Calculate depth to neutral axis 4.5.2 Calculate moment of inertia 4.5.3 Calculate stress 4.5.4 Calculate strain 4.6 Strut and Tie 4.6.1 Ties 4.6.2 Struts 4.6.3 Bursting reinforcement 4.6.4 Nodes 4.7 Steel fibre reinforced concrete 4.8 Concrete detailing 4.8.1 Concrete notes 4.8.1.1 General 4.8.1.2 Concrete 4.8.1.3 Reinforcement 4.8.2 Additional concrete details 4.8.3 Miscellaneous details 5 Timber basics 5.1 Material 5.1.1 Cost 5.1.2 Timber selection 5.1.3 Properties 5.2 Design and analysis 5.2.1 Reduction factors and partial factors 5.2.2 Bending 5.2.3 Shear 5.2.4 Compression 5.2.5 Tension 5.2.6 Combined actions 5.2.6 Connections 5.2.6.1 Bearing connections 5.2.6.2 Structural connections 6 Geotechnical 6.1 Pad footings 6.1.1 Stability 6.1.2 Bearing capacity 6.1.2.1 Linear elastic bearing pressures 6.1.2.2 Plastic bearing pressures 6.1.2.3 Brinch–Hansen design method 6.1.3 Pad footing detailing 6.2 Piles 6.2.1 Structural requirements for piles 6.2.1.1 Concrete piles 6.2.1.2 Steel piles 6.2.2 Vertically loaded piles 6.2.2.2 Induced bending moment 6.2.3 Settlement 6.2.4 Laterally loaded piles 6.2.4.1 Short piles 6.2.4.2 Long piles 6.2.4.3 Pile deflections 6.2.5 Pile detailing 6.3 Retaining walls 6.3.1 Code requirements 6.3.1.1 Loads and surcharges 6.3.1.2 Material design factors 6.3.1.3 Load combinations 6.3.2 Rankine pressure method 6.3.3 Coulomb wedge method 6.3.4 Compaction-induced pressure 6.3.5 Stability 6.3.6 Bearing pressure 6.3.7 Typical soil properties 6.3.8 Retaining wall detailing 6.4 Slabs on grade 6.4.1 Preliminary sizing 6.4.2 Soil parameters 6.4.2.1 California bearing ratio (CBR) 6.4.2.2 Modulus of subgrade reaction 6.4.2.3 Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio 6.4.3 Loads 6.4.4 Analysis 6.4.4.1 Linear and non-linear analysis using modulus of subgrade reaction 6.4.4.2 Finite element analysis using Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio 6.4.5 Crack control 6.4.6 Joints 6.4.6.1 Control joints 6.4.6.2 Isolation joints 6.4.6.3 Construction joints 6.4.6.4 Expansion joints 6.4.6.5 Joint armouring 6.4.6.6 Joint movement 6.4.7 Dowels 6.5 Shrink-swell movement 6.5.1 Investigation 6.5.2 Calculation of characteristic surface movement 6.5.2.1 Swelling profile 6.5.2.2 Depth of cracking 6.5.2.3 Existence of cut or fill 6.5.2.4 Characteristic surface movement 6.5.2.5 Site classification 6.5.2.6 Soil structure interaction: heave 6.5.2.7 Load combinations 6.5.2.8 Modelling 6.5.3 Shrink–swell detailing 7 Design items 7.1 Pipe racks (pipe stress) 7.1.1 Pipe stress 7.1.1.1 Support spacing 7.1.1.2 Technical requirements 7.1.1.3 Load cases 7.1.1.4 Load combinations 7.1.1.5 Support types 7.1.2 Other pipe rack loads 7.1.3 Pre-assembled units (PAUs) 7.1.3.1 Transportation and load restraint 7.2 Vessels and tanks 7.3 Lifting lugs 7.3.1 Design factors 7.3.2 Placement of lugs 7.3.3 Marking 7.3.4 Dimensional requirements 7.3.5 Calculations 7.3.6 Lifting lug detailing 7.4 Machine foundations 7.4.1 Rule of thumb sizing 7.4.2 Natural frequency analysis 7.4.3 Harmonic response analysis 7.4.3.1 Damping 7.4.4 Dynamic load 7.4.5 Acceptance criteria 7.4.6 General design requirements 7.4.6.1 Construction requirements 7.4.7 Design methodology 7.5 Access (stairs, ladders and handrails) 7.5.1 Walkways 7.5.2 Stairs 7.5.3 Ladders 7.5.3.1 Stair and ladder detailing 7.6 Temperature variation 7.6.1 Minimum temperature (AS 4100) 7.6.2 Steel grade selection 7.6.3 Temperature range (bridges) 7.6.4 Installation temperature and design range 7.6.5 Change in properties with high temperatures 7.7 Composite beams and slabs 7.7.1 Bending design 7.7.1.1 Case 1: Neutral axis in concrete slab 7.7.1.2 Case 2: Neutral axis in top flange 7.7.1.3 Case 3: Neutral axis in web 7.7.2 Shear connector design 7.7.3 Elastic transformed stress analysis 7.8 Bunds 7.8.1 The storage and handling of flammable and combustible liquids, AS 1940 7.8.2 Substations and high-voltage installations exceeding 1 kV a.c., AS 2067 7.9 Concrete structures for retaining liquids 7.9.1 Loads 7.9.1.1 Hydrostatic pressure 7.9.1.2 Temperature 7.9.1.3 Moisture variation 7.9.1.4 Seismic 7.9.1.5 Earth pressures 7.9.1.6 Wind 7.9.1.7 Buoyancy 7.9.2 Load combinations 7.9.2.1 Serviceability combination cases 7.9.2.2 Strength combination cases 7.9.3 Durability 7.9.3.1 Exposure classification 7.9.3.2 Concrete requirements 7.9.4 Crack control 7.9.5 Analysis 7.9.6 Serviceability 7.9.7 Design 7.9.8 Concrete structures for retaining liquids detailing 7.9.9 Construction and testing 7.10 Linear and non-linear analysis (Space Gass) 7.10.1 T-post design model 7.10.1.1 Create geometry of model 7.11 Finite element analysis (Strand7) 7.11.1 Linear analysis 7.11.1.1 Concrete slab model (linear) 7.11.2 Non-linear analysis 7.11.2.1 Simple model (linear and non-linear) 7.11.2.2 Complex model 8 Design aids 8.1 Section calculations 8.2 Force diagrams 8.3 Design catalogues and capacity tables 8.3.1 Steel catalogues and capacity tables 8.3.1.1 Bolt capacity 8.3.1.2 Weld capacity 8.3.1.3 Steel plates 8.3.1.4 Steel flats 8.3.1.5 Steel square sections 8.3.1.6 Steel round sections 8.3.1.7 Plate capacities 8.3.1.8 Pin capacities 8.3.1.9 Steel sections (welded, hot rolled and cold formed) 8.3.1.10 Members subject to bending 8.3.1.11 Members subject to axial compression 8.3.2 Concrete catalogues and capacity tables 8.3.2.1 Concrete reinforcement 8.3.2.2 Slabs 8.3.2.3 Beams 8.3.2.4 Columns 9 Vendor catalogues 10 Notations and abbreviations References Index