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5
Structural Steel Frames
Structural steel frames are a popular choice for tall buildings. The advantages of the structural
steel frame are the speed of erection of the ready-prepared steel members and the
accuracy of setting out and connections that is a tradition in engineering works. Accurate
placing of steel members, with small tolerances, facilitates the fixing of cladding materials
and curtain walls. With the use of sprayed-on or dry lining materials to encase steel
members to provide protection against damage by fire, a structural steel frame may be more
economical than a reinforced concrete structural frame because of speed of erection and
economy in material and construction labour costs. Steel components can also be reclaimed,
reused and recycled when the building is deconstructed at the end of its life.
5.1 Functional requirements
The functional requirements of a structural frame are:
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Strength and stability
Durability and freedom from maintenance
Fire safety
Strength and stability
The requirements from the Building Regulations are that buildings be constructed so that
the loadbearing elements, foundations, walls, floors and roofs have adequate strength and
stability to support the dead loads of the construction and anticipated imposed loads on
roofs, floors and walls without such undue deflection or deformation as might adversely
affect the strength and stability of parts or the whole of the building. The strength of the
loadbearing elements of the structure is assumed either from knowledge of the behaviour
of similar traditional elements, such as walls and floors under load, or by calculations of
the behaviour of parts or the whole of a structure under load, based on data from experimental
tests, with various factors of safety to make allowance for unforeseen construction
or design errors. The strength of individual elements of a structure may be reasonably
accurately assessed by taking account of tests on materials and making allowance for variations
of strength in both natural and man-made materials.
The strength of combinations of elements such as columns and beams depends on the rigidity
of the connection and the consequent interaction of the elements. Simple calculations,
Barry’s Advanced Construction of Buildings, Third Edition. Stephen Emmitt and Christopher A. Gorse.
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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