HSS beam spec 1

[JStructsteel]

What specification and ASTM are you folks using for HSS shapes?

 

[jreit]

ASTM A500 Grade C is the preferred specification as per AISC.

Link

 

[lexpatrie]

That's not current. 2022 is the current one. See the FAQ.

The answer, A500 Grade C is technically correct, but the referenced document gives F[sub]y[/sub]=46 ksi and the currently available stuff has moved upward to 50 ksi.

For domestic uses only......

 

[271828]

In the 15th and 16th ed. Manuals, the preferred material specification is A500 Gr. C. There was a slight change, though:

In the 15th ed. Manual, rectangular and round HSS had different Fy, but the same Fu.

In the 16th ed., rectangular and round are the same: Fy = 50 ksi and Fu = 62 ksi.

 

[jerseyshore]

This is a good question because we've been spec'ing A500 Grade B for as long as I've practiced. I don't have any recent shop drawings with HSS columns, but I haven't see anything other than Grade B spec'd and supplied.

Any tri-state area people using Gr C and Fy=50 ksi? Might have to update future calcs and my notes.

 

[271828]

At least half the projects I see use A500 Gr. B. I've tried to talk several clients into using C, but they're concerned it'll cost more or be harder to get. My guess is that's unfounded, but they're the ones ordering the steel, so who knows.

 

[dold]

We switched to A500 Gr C about 3 or 4 years ago.

There's also A1085 which I've only seen it used for braced frames, specifically SCBF braces for seismic applications, since it has an upper limit on Fy. That gives you a more predictable limit on expected strengths.

 

[jerseyshore]

I'll have to ask one of the local steel guys what they are seeing these days. I just did a quick search of some recent files and nothing other than Grade B was spec'd by us or any other engineers/ archs.

 

[Flotsam7018]

Most HSS these days meets grade C and is often labelled as A500 grade B&C, at least in my area - so I always spec grade C. Calling your local steel supplier to have a conversation is always helpful as well.

 

[dauwerda]

I'll have to ask one of the local steel guys what they are seeing these days. I just did a quick search of some recent files and nothing other than Grade B was spec'd by us or any other engineers/ archs.

I work for a fabricator in central US that fabricates substation steel structures (almost exclusively HSS structures). They order steel from a few different suppliers in a 3 or 4 state radius (and suppliers get it from all over the US, I mean there are only a handful of producers of HSS with Atlas Tube being the largest). *All* HSS has been dual certified as Grade B and Grade C for quite a few years now.

So, whether you are spec'ing B or C, you are getting the same product.

 

[JLNJ]

I asked a rep from Atlas Tube when they went to rolling 50 ksi Grade C exclusively. He said something like, "1998".

 

[lexpatrie]

Yeah. F[sub]y[/sub] = 50 ksi. Ketchup!

 

[jerseyshore]

I guess I'll change our general notes then to 50 ksi Grade C then. Will be nice to not worry about switching to 46 ksi in a program or calc.

I asked a rep from Atlas Tube when they went to rolling 50 ksi Grade c exclusively. He said something like, "1998".

This reminds me when I started working at my old office, right out of college and a plan got rejected for having the wrong timber pile treatment. My boss asked me to reach out to a manufacturer to update our notes. I said hey we are spec'ing creosote soaked piles is that still good or what's the deal? He said "that has been illegal since 1990". Oh, so when I was in diapers still, got it. Only 22 years late to the party.

 

[phamENG]

Only 22 years late to the party.

The inertia of a firm's general notes can be astounding.

 

[lexpatrie]

Still see A36 anchor rods on "current" plans.

 

[bones206]

I have an entire "shadow set" of general notes that I keep up to date on my personal computer, just in case I ever go out on my own. For now I'm forced to use my firm's outdated general notes on projects, because there is no formal update and review process. Not even a centralized note repository. We just copy and paste from project to project. Sigh.

 

[jerseyshore]

The painful process to change a single letter in general notes at my old office was barely worth the effort. Now as a business owner it is very refreshing to change a note or update a typical detail on the fly and not argue with half the office. Will take me just a second to switch that Gr B out for Gr C now.

 

[lexpatrie]

bones - Is there a blueprint machine in the basement and jugs of ammonia, and a power eraser somewhere in the building? A slide rule? A cutting board? I worked a place (kinda rented space) where the dust on the upper floor was 1/4" thick and 1990 projects were laying out on the desk, like there'd been a nuclear attack. Never found the blueprint machine, the ammonia, or the power eraser so I'm still looking for them. I tried the attached garage but nope.

Jersey - it's funny how "cutting edge" one's general notes can be when there isn't anybody standing in the way. Now if I could just figure out why my plots have so much random kerning in the text notes on the leaders...... but not in the various text notes.

 

[JLNJ]

Still see A36 anchor rods on "current" plans.

"Rods"? Ha! How very 21st century of you.

I think you meant to write "J-Bolts".

 

[phamENG]

"J-Bolts"

I've pretty much given up on that crusade.