CE456

CourseSyllabus

Fall2012

Part I Course Organization

CE 456
Design of Steel Structures
Thursdays | 6:309:10 pm
Fall 2012 | Course Syllabus
Prerequisite
Professor
Office
Telephone
E-mail

CE 207 and CE 225 (Corequisite: CE 358)

Mohsen Kargahi, PhD, PE, SECB
KAP 203, Office hours 5:30-6:30 pm class days
(213) 821-2948
mohsen@usc.edu

Introduction and Purposes

Structural Steel is one of the most popular materials for construction of buildings, bridges and
other structures. This class is about studying properties of steel, behavior of structural steel
elements, and design procedures for these elements to withstand structural loads. Both
Allowable Stress Design (ASD) and Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) will be introduced to
the students, however LRFD procedures will be used throughout the class. Tension members,
compression members, flexural members, and finally members subject to combined bending and
axial load will be studied. In addition, simple and eccentric steel connections will be discussed.
As a result of taking the course,
a. The students will have an understanding of the behavior of steel elements under
structural loading;
b. Will be familiar with AISC-LRFD steel design procedures;
c. Will be able to design primary steel structural elements of a building and their
connections.

Textbooks
1. STEEL DESIGN, William T. Segui, Cengage Learning, 5th Edition, 2013 (ISBN-10: 1-111-57600-9,
ISBN-13: 978-1-111-57600-4)
2. STEEL CONSTRUCTION MANUAL, American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), 14th Edition,
2011 (ISBN 1-56424-060-6)

Course Requirements and Grades

1. Weekly homework assignments will represent 15% of the grade, one mid-term exam will
represent 25%, and a comprehensive final exam will account for 40% of the grade. The
remaining 20% will be represented by a design project.
2. The subject of homework assignments will be the concepts and procedures introduced in the
preceding class. All homework problems are due one week after they are assigned. Weekly
assignments must be submitted at the beginning of the class in which they are due. Late
assignments will be accepted under special circumstances with prior authorization.

3. The exams will be open book and open text and are intended to test students on the subject
matter in limited time frames.
4. The design project will be an individual one and involves designing steel structural elements
of a small building.

Class Sessions/Course Readings/Homework

Minor changes may occur due to change in the instruction pace
CE 456 - Fall 2012
Class

Date

Topic

Reading (Text #1)

Homework Assigned
(Text #1)
1.5-1
1.5-3
2-3
2-5

30-Aug-12

Introduction, Material Properties,

Design Process

Chapters 1 and 2

6-Sep-12

Tension Members: Strength, Effective

Area, Staggered Bolts, Block Shear

Chapter 3: 3.1 to 3.5

3.2-3 (a)
3.4-1

3.3-5
3.5-5 (a)

13-Sep-12

Tension Members: Design, Misc. Topics

Compression Members: Introduction,
Column Theory

Chapter 3: 3.6 to 3.9

Chapter 4: 4.1 to 4.2

3.6-2 (a)
3.7-5 (a)

3.6-6
3.8-2

20-Sep-12

Compression Members: Strength, Local

Stability, Effective Length

Chapter 4: 4.3 to 4.5

and 4.7

4.3-1
4.7-3 (a)

4.3-5 (LRFD)
4.7-11

27-Sep-12

Compression Members: Design,

Buckling Modes, Misc. Topics

Chapter 4: 4.6, 4.8, and

4.9

4.6-2 (LRFD) 4.6-7

4.8-1
4.9-5

4-Oct-12

Beams: Introduction, Elastic and Plastic

Moments, Strength of Compact
Shapes, Strength of Noncompact
Shapes

Chapter 5: 5.1 to 5.7

5.5-3 (a)
5.5-11 (b)

5.5-7
5.6-1 (a)

11-Oct-12

Beams: Shear Strength, Deflections,

Design

Chapter 5: 5.8 to 5.10

5.8-1
5.10-3 (a)

5.8-3 (a)
5.10-6 (a)

18-Oct-12

Review, Midterm Exam

25-Oct-12

Beam-Columns: Introduction,
Interaction, Moment Amplification,
Members in Braced Frames

Chapter 6: 6.1 to 6.6

6.2-1 (a)
6.6-5 (a)

6.6-1 (a)
6.6-7 (a)

10

1-Oct-12

Beam-Columns: Members in Unbraced

Frames, Design
Simple Connections: Introduction

Chapter 6: 6.7 and 6.8

6.7-1
6.8-5 (a)

6.8-2
6.8-8

Chapter 7: 7.1

11

8-Nov-12

Simple Connections: Bolts, Bolted

Connections, Design

Chapter 7: 7.2 to 7.9

7.4-3 (a)
7.7-3 (a)

7.6-1 (a)
7.9-3 (a)

12

15-Nov-12

Simple Connections: Weld, Welded

Connections, Design
Eccentric Connections: Introduction

Chapter 7: 7.10 and

7.11
Chapter 8: 8.1

7.11-1 (a)
7.11-6 (a)

7.11-3 (a)
7.11-8

22-Nov-12

Thanksgiving Holiday

13

29-Nov-12

Eccentric Connections: Eccentric

Bolted Connections, Eccentric Welded
Connections
Project Discussion

Chapter 8: 8.2 to 8.5

8.2-9 (a)
8.4-5 (a)

8.3-3 (a)
8.5-5 (LRFD)

14

6-Dec-12

Review, Course Evaluation, Project Due

15

13-Dec-12

Final Exam

CE 456 | Fall 2012

Page |2

 Statement for Students with Disabilities

Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register
with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved
accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me as early
in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m.5:00 p.m., Monday
through Friday. The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.

Statement on Academic Integrity

USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment. General principles of academic honesty
include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the expectation that
individual work will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by an instructor, and the obligations
both to protect ones own academic work from misuse by others as well as to avoid using
anothers work as ones own. All students are expected to understand and abide by these
principles. Scampus, the Student Guidebook, contains the Student Conduct Code and can be
found at:
http://web-app.usc.edu/scampus/university-student-conduct-code/
Students will be referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards for
further review, should there be any suspicion of academic dishonesty. The Review process can be
found at:
http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/SJACS/

CE 456 | Fall 2012

Page |3

Part II Detailed Course

Objectives

CE456 DesignofSteelStructures3Units
USC|SONNYASTANIDEPARTMENTOFCIVILANDENVIRONMENTALENGINEERING

ABET Course Syllabus

Course Information, Textbook, and Supplementary Materials
Course Description: Fundamentals of analysis and design of steel structures; structural elements;
simple and eccentric connections; design project.
Required for BSCE General, Structural and Building Science
Prerequisites: CE 207L Introduction to Design of Structural Systems
CE 225 Mechanics of Deformable Bodies
Co-Requisite: CE 358 Theory of Structures I
Required Textbook: William T. Segui, LRFD Steel Design, 3rd Edition, PWS Publishing
Reference: AISC, Manual of Steel Construction, LRFD, Third Edition

Topics Covered

Learning Outcomes

Design of tension
members for ultimate
loads

The student will be able to do the following:

1. Understand the limit states for members subjected to tension loads.
2. Evaluate the effective cross sectional area of a tension member.
3. Understand the concept of block shear failure.

Design of compression
members for ultimate
loads

4. Understand basic column theory and concept of effective length.

5. Estimate the effective length of columns in frame.
6. Understand the concept of overall buckling and local buckling.
7. Design columns for axial compression.

Design of beams for

flexure and shear

8. Understand basic flexural theory, concept of plastic moment

capacity.
9. Understand the limit states for flexural members and concept of
compact section.
10. Design for flexure including local buckling and lateral torsion
buckling.
11. Design beams for shear.
12. Design members for combined axial load and bending.

Design simple
connections

13. Understand the mechanical properties of bolts and welding

procedures.
14. Design simple bolted and welded connections.

Lecture and Lab Schedule

Lecture

Lab

Sessions per Week

Duration per Session

Sessions per Week

3 hours

n/a

Duration per Session

Page

CE456 DesignofSteelStructures3Units
USC|SONNYASTANIDEPARTMENTOFCIVILANDENVIRONMENTALENGINEERING

Contribution of Course to Meeting the Professional Component

Engineering Topics | Design
Students will understand the design process and learn approaches used to solve various engineering
problems that are representative of those found in a professional environment. They will practice
decision-making skills as they apply their knowledge of basic sciences, mathematics, and the
engineering sciences to convert resources optimally to meet the stated needs of a project.
Engineering Topics | Other
Constraints and Considerations. Students will understand the diverse constraints and considerations
that are representative of what they will encounter in an engineering practice.
Although this course bridges all of the subjects
Economic | Environmental | Sustainability | Manufacturability1 | Social | Energy

1) Most of the emphasis is on manufacturability.

Relation of Course
Objectives to Program Outcomes
The Civil Engineering program is designed
to teach beyond the technical content of the
curriculum and prepare the students to
utilize what they learn in a professional
setting.
This course contributes to the program
outcomes as outlined in the adjacent table.

9
Key

Course Contribution to Program Outcomes (a-k)

a. An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and
engineering.
c. An ability to design a system component or process to meet desired
needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental,
social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and
sustainability.

e. An ability to identify, formulate and solve engineering problems.

f. An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility.
g. An ability to communicate effectively
k. An ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering
tools necessary for engineering practice.

Prepared by:

Date:

Dr. Mohsen Kargahi

Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Fall 2012

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