Update: May 01-2013

• Distinguish between engineering drawings and shop drawings

• Describe, designate, and illustrate the various structural steel

products used in framing plans.

• Properly use the American Institute of Steel Construction’s

Manual of Steel Construction for determining structural steel

product designations and dimensions.

• Properly construct structural steel framing plans according to

engineering specifications.

• In structural steel drafting, engineering drawings are

sometimes referred to as erection drawings depending on

how they are to be used. Engineering drawings are prepared

by drafters from sketches provided by structural engineers.

• Rolled steel products are classified as being either a plate, a

bar, or a shape.

Plates are flat pieces of steel of various thicknesses. Common

uses are as stiffeners, gusset plates, and in making built-up

girders. Plates are called out on drawings according to their

thickness, their width, and their length (in inches).

Bars are the smallest structural steel products and may have

round, square, rectangular, or hexagonal cross-sectional

configurations.

Shaps consist of W shapes, M shapes, S shapes, angles,

channels, structural tees, structural tubing, and pipe are the most

important structural steel framing products.

� W, S and M shape are the new designations, set forth by the

American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), for shape that

previously were designated as WF, I, and M or Jr shapes

� For the student’s convenience, a portion of this manual has been reproduced in the

appendix of this book.

• Angles are properly designated as L shapes and are two

types: equal angles and unequal angles.

• Angles designations on older drawings read exactly as the

previous example with the exception of the uppercase L. the

old symbol for angle was <.

• Channels are properly designed as C shapes, they have a squared C configuration with sloping flanges and a web of constant thickness.

• Channels are of two types:

1. American Standard: Properly called out channels are C 10 X 25, C 12 X 30, and C 15 X 33.9

2. Miscellaneous channel designations are MC 10 X 8.4, MC 12 X 10.6, and MC 18 X 42.7

• Structural tees are products cut from W, S, and M shapes by

splitting the webs.

• Structural tubing is manufactured in square, rectangular, and

round cross-sectional configurations, it is often used as a

structural column.

• Structural pipe has a round, hollow cross-section

configuration and is very effective for use as structural

columns.

• Steel pipe is manufactured in three categories of strength:

1. Standard

2. X- Strong

3. XX- Strong

• The strength and the category. XX-Strong pipe has thicker

walls and is stronger than X-Pipe, which has thicker walls

and is stronger than standard pipe.

• The structural steel shapes discussed in the preceding

paragraphs are the most commonly used structural steel

framing products. However, in certain heavy- load or

long-span situations, standard rolled steel products do not

meet the design requirements. When this is the case, a

special built- up framing member can be designed that

meets the requirements.

• The most common type of built-up framing member is the

built-up girder. A built-up girder is either a standards rolled

shape that has been reinforced or a new shape made

entirely of steel plates.

In its publication Structural Steel Detailing, the AISC specifies five different types of

built-up girders.

• Structural steel framing plans are symbolic representation of columns,

beams, built-up girders, and other framing members. They are used

primarily for engineering and erection purposes.

• A structural steel framing plan is a plan-view representation showing all

columns, beams, girders, joists, bridging, etc., as they will appear when the

framing for the structure being built is erected, column centerlines are given

number and letter designations and are completely dimensioned

• Structural steel framing plans are of two types:

1. Column framing plans

2. Beam framing plans

• The column framing plan is a plan view of all columns used in

a job and the foundations on which they bear.

• Floor and roof framing plans are commonly referred to as beam framing

plans. The beam framing plan repeats the plan view of the columns and

centerline of column designations.

• The beam framing plan is also coded to identify each structure connection

that requires a connection detail to guide the erection crew in erecting the

structural connection.

• To save drawing time, similar connection situations may share a common

connection detail. The abbreviation Sim is used on the framing plan as a

suffix to the letter designation to indicate two or more connections sharing

the same detail. The abbreviation Opp Hd, meaning the opposite hand.