Computer Design of Welded Steel Beams for Strength Limit States

The new Australian limit states code Steel Structures is expected to be published by Standards Australia in 1990. The new code will lead to major changes in the way in which structural designs are carried out, since it is different in basis from the present AS1250, and has been written to take advantage of much recent research. Structural designers will need help in the implementation of this code, particularly in the design of welded beams with slender webs. In late 1987, the Australian Institute of Steel Construction decided to join with the University of Sydney in a project to prepare a user-friendly computer program LIMST which would provide this much-needed help to the designers of steel structures. This paper describes the extension of the program LIMST to the design of welded members, and gives brief examples of its use. The conference presentation will demonstrate the various features of the program.