48366 Steel and Timber Design

Requisite(s): 48349 Structural Analysis AND 48352c Construction Materials

Civil engineers who wish to practise as civil engineers in Australia must have knowledge of structural design. Most civil engineers need to have knowledge of and competence in structural design using structural steel and timber. This subject builds on the knowledge of statics, solid mechanics and structural analysis of indeterminate structures that the students have learnt in the previous structural strand subjects.

Initially, students revise the Limit State Design philosophy of Australian Standards for structural design. They are introduced to the material properties of structural steel and of timber and engineered wood products and their supply.

Steel topics include failure modes of metals, fracture and fatigue of steel, then, in accordance with the requirements of AS4100 Steel Structures, tension member design (to AS4100), compression member design including in-plane effective lengths of rigid-jointed frames, beam and three-plate girder design for serviceability (deflection) and strength (bending, shear, web-crippling and web-buckling), beam-columns (combined actions) and bolted and fillet-welded connection design.

Timber topics include, in accordance with the requirements of AS1720.1 Timber Structures, Part 1: Design Methods, tension member design, compression member design, beam design for serviceability (deflection) and strength (bending, shear, bearing), combined actions and nailed and bolted joints.

Assessment: This subject is usually assessed by a series of assignments, quizzes and a final exam.