48366 Steel and Timber Design
Warning: The information on this page is indicative. The subject outline for a
particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source
of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.
Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 6 cp
Subject level:
Undergraduate
Result type: Grade and marksRequisite(s): 48349 Structural Analysis AND 48352c Construction Materials
The lower case 'c' after the subject code indicates that the subject is a corequisite. See definitions for details.
Anti-requisite(s): 48342 Structural Behaviour and Design
Description
Civil engineers who wish to practice in Australia must have knowledge of structural design. This subject builds on the knowledge of statics, solid mechanics and structural analysis of indeterminate structures that students have learnt in the previous structural strand subjects. Initially, students review the Limit State Design (LSD) philosophy of Australian Standards for structural design and the LSD load combinations of AS1170.0 Structural Design Actions, Part 0: General Principles. Students are introduced to the material properties of structural steel and of timber and engineered wood products and their supply.
Steel design topics are tension member design, compression member design including in-plane effective lengths of rigid-jointed frames, beam design for serviceability (deflection) and strength (bending and flexural shear), beam-columns (combined actions incorporating second-order effects) and design capacities of bolts and fillet welds, all in accordance with the requirements of AS4100 Steel Structures.
Timber design topics are tension member design, compression member design, beam design for serviceability (deflection) and strength (bending, shear, bearing), combined actions and nailed and bolted Type 1 joints, all in accordance with the requirements of AS1720.1 Timber Structures, Part 1: Design Methods.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
Upon successful completion of this subject students should be able to:
| 1. | Analyse and design structural steel tension members, compression members, beams, beam-columns and the design capacities of bolts and fillet welds, in accordance with the requirements of AS4100 and AS1170.0. (C.1, D.1) |
|---|---|
| 2. | Apply their knowledge of timber material behaviour, supply and material properties and analyse and design timber elements for moment, shear, bearing and deflection in beams, combined actions, nailed and bolted Type 1 connections and durability design, in accordance with the requirements of AS1720.1 and AS1170.0. (C.1, D.1) |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject also contributes specifically to the development of the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs):
- Design Oriented: FEIT graduates apply problem solving, design and decision-making methodologies to develop components, systems and processes to meet specified requirements. (C.1)
- Technically Proficient: FEIT graduates apply abstraction, mathematics and discipline fundamentals, software, tools and techniques to evaluate, implement and operate systems. (D.1)
Contribution to the development of graduate attributes
Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competencies
This subject contributes to the development of the following Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competencies:
- 1.3. In-depth understanding of specialist bodies of knowledge within the engineering discipline.
- 1.6. Understanding of the scope, principles, norms, accountabilities and bounds of sustainable engineering practice in the specific discipline.
- 2.1. Application of established engineering methods to complex engineering problem solving.
- 2.2. Fluent application of engineering techniques, tools and resources.
- 2.3. Application of systematic engineering synthesis and design processes.
Teaching and learning strategies
This subject is delivered in two 2-hour interactive online classes. Recorded videos, such as practice problems and worked examples that cover the topics in the subject are made available online through Canvas.
Students should engage with the prescribed reading material, attempt nominated exercise problems and complete online quizzes/tasks prior to attending the classes according to the weekly teaching schedule so that they can actively participate in discussions and complete any nominated problem-solving activities. Practice problems are designed to help students gain an understanding of timber and steel material properties and of the structural design of the relevant timber and structural steel components by providing examples covering the relevant learning objectives. Students will form small groups to work on practice problems.
Discussion and feedback on the students’ progress are incorporated into class time. During each tutorial class, constructive feedback on the progress and quality of the practice problem will be given to each group of students. It should be noted that further feedback will be available for the questions related to the practice problems during consulting hours and students can also learn from interaction with other students.
Content (topics)
Topics include:
- Steel material properties for design and section types
- General principles of steel design
- Design of steel members carrying axial compression
- Steel beam design for strength and serviceability
- Design of steel tension members
- Introduction to design of steel connections
- Steel beam-column design, including second-order effects
- Timber material properties for design and supply
- Timber tension member design
- Timber compression member design
- Timber beam design (Serviceability Limit State)
- Timber beam design (Strength Limit State)
- Timber element design for combined actions
- Timber Type 1 nailed, screwed and bolted connection design
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Timber Exercise Sets
| Intent: | The purpose of this assessment task is to gain experience in structural design on the given topics by solving design problems that require design calculations and subsequent design decisions. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses the following subject learning objectives (SLOs): 2 This assessment task contributes to the development of the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs): C.1 and D.1 |
| Type: | Exercises |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 30% |
| Length: | Exercise 1: No more than 4 pages in length |
Assessment task 2: Steel Design Quiz
| Intent: | The aim of this assessment is to evaluate students' competence and understanding of steel beam design for flexural capacity, shear capacity and bearing capacity as well as steel column design. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses the following subject learning objectives (SLOs): 1 and 2 This assessment task contributes to the development of the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs): C.1 and D.1 |
| Type: | Quiz/test |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 30% |
| Length: | 90 minutes |
Assessment task 3: Timber and Steel Design Report
| Intent: | The aim of this assessment is to assess students' competence and understanding of the relevant topics of steel and timber design and to validate learning on the fundamental concepts, problem solving skills, analysis and design procedures and construction challenges in real life. This assessment also assesses students' abilities to develop the required objectives of the subject and gain sound knowledge of bridge engineering. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses the following subject learning objectives (SLOs): 1 and 2 This assessment task contributes to the development of the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs): C.1 and D.1 |
| Type: | Project |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 40% |
| Length: | Steel Design Component: No more than 16 pages in length Timber Design Component: No more than 8 pages in length |
Minimum requirements
In order to pass the subject, a student must achieve an overall mark of 50% or more.
Required texts
- Gorenc, B.E., Tinyou, R, & Syam, A. (2012). The Steel Designer's Handbook (8th Ed.). UNSW Press.
- Geoffrey N. Boughton . Timber Design Handbook: in Accordance with the Australian Limit State Timber Design Code as 1720.1-1997 (Standard No. Hb108-1998)
- AS1170.0 – 2002 Structural design actions, Part 0: General principles, Standards Australia International (SAI), Sydney, incorporating Amendments 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
- AS1170.1 - 2002 Structural design actions, Part 1: Permanent, imposed and other actions, SAI, Sydney.
- AS1720.1 – 2010 Timber structures, Part 1: Design methods, SAI, Sydney, incorporating Amendments 1 and 2.
- AS4100 – 2020 Steel structures, SAI, Sydney, incorporating Amendment 1.
Students should ensure that they have access to the standards mentioned below as a minimum to attempt the assessment tasks in this subject.
- AS4100 – 1998 Steel structures, SAI, Sydney, incorporating Amendment 1.
- AS1720.1 – 2010 Timber structures, Part 1: Design methods, SAI, Sydney, incorporating Amendments 1 and 2.
Note: If you propose to download the above Standards then we have posted on Canvas a listing of the relevant sections for each code so you don’t need to print out the whole of each code. Online access to these Standards is under licence through the UTS Library website.
Recommended texts
Primary References:
Gorenc, B.E., Tinyou, R, & Syam, A. (2012). The Steel Designer`s Handbook (8th Ed.). UNSW Press.
HB108 – 2013 Timber design handbook, SAI, Sydney.
Bootle, K (2005) Wood in Australia, types, properties and uses, 2nd ed, McGraw-Hill, Sydney.
Separate lectures and other material are available on Canvas.
References
Other References:
Bradford, MA, Bridge, RQ, & Trahair, NS (2013) Worked examples for steel structures, 4th ed, Australian Steel Institute (ASI), Sydney.
Hogan, TJ (2007) Connection handbook 1: Background and theory, ASI, Sydney.
Trahair, NS & Bradford, MA (1998) The behaviour and design of steel structures to AS4100, 3rd ed, E&FN Spon, London.
Woolcock ST, Kitipornchai, S, Bradford, MA & Haddad, GA (2011) Design of portal frame buildings, 4th ed, ASI, Sydney.
HB48-1999 Steel structures design handbook, 2nd ed, SAI, Sydney.
For steel design, a very useful website is that of the Australian Steel Institute: www.steel.org.au
Other resources
Canvas
Canvas will be used primarily for posting notices as communication to you – it will be a Level 1 use. Please note that you can raise queries with your colleagues on the subject under the Discussion Board - general subject matters, timber design matters and steel design matters. Your colleagues may be able to assist you. We shall keep an eye on these discussion boards and respond when necessary.
The lecture material is posted under Subject Documents, under Timber Design Lecture Notes and Steel Design Lecture Notes.
Tutorial problems, practice problems for steel, and some extra documents are avaiable on Canvas.