‘Your connection to ideas + answers jonsCenter SS steelwise October 2006 Tolerances Illustrated By understanding and accommodating structural steel production, fabrication, and erection tolerances, you can avoid expensive and time-consuming field fixes. BBY ERIKA WINTERS DOWNEY AND JASON ERICKSEN, 5.E AS A YOUNG DESIGNER, IT WAS ‘SURPRISING TO ME HOW A HALF INCH HERE OR THERE COULD HAVE BIG EFFECT ON THE SUCCESS OF HE CONSTRUCTION OF A LARGE UILDING. Poor curtain wall fit-up, par- tition wall problems, finished floor cleva- tion unevenness, and door and opening installation problems can all be the end result of misunderstanding oF neglect of structural stel tolerances. Engineers most fofien encounter steel tolerances when audressing the interface ofthe stel frame ‘with another material or system. Problems in these areas are not only time-consum- ing and expensive to fix, but also they can depth atwe yet a NGnatine c B flange width Tar flanges out of square web off © Teomter imap he o eto) Ye = WO) All ‘ie x U10) he taint the owner’, architects, developers, oF general contractor’ view of the projet’ suecess—even if the stecl frame performs exactly as designed. Providing adjustable dewails ar system interfaces is the most straightforward solu tion to accommodate system tolerances. Understanding where adjustable details are ceded and providing details wth the proper amount of adjustment allows an engineer to provide a structural frame that easily inte {rates the non-structural elements. ‘An engineer designing with structural steel must account for three types of toler- ance in their design: Mill Tolerance, Fabei- cation Tolerance, and Erection Tolerance. Mills producing hot-rolled structural steel must conform to the ASTM A6 speci fication as stated in AISC Manual of Steel Construction, 13th Edition. ASTM A6 sets the acceptable variance for member length, straightness, camber, sweep, and cross-sec~ tion properties. Cross-section properties addressed are overall depth and width, flange and web thickness, and flange out- of-alignment (see Table 1). ASTM A6 tolerances for member cam- ber and sweep of typical wide lange shapes are shown in Table 2. It should be noted that these tolerances are for incidental mill, camber a different set of tolerances apply for frbricator “induced” camber. Small amounts of incidental rill camber are ‘cominon and don’t typically cause prob- lems in construction. However, if piece js to be used as a column or a beam in an application that requires it co be flat, one can specify “no camber” on the order. Fabrication and erection tolerances sre specified in the 2005AISC Cade of Standard Practice (COSP), included in Part 16 ofthe “Manual, Examining the COSP and itscom- (OCTOBER 2004 MODERN STEEL CONSTRUCTIONmentary can greatly improve your under- standing of how a structural steel building fits together. Fabrication and erection tol- erances are addressed specifically in sec- tions 6 and 7 of the COSP. Issues that are addressed ae: Location of workpoins "Temperature shrinkage and expansion. ~ Beam and eolurnn out-of-alignment (in elevation and plan. > Column clearance. Erection tolerance at column splices. Induced camber tolerance. “Table 3 illustrates fabriation tolerances for column and beam length, respectively. “Table highlights fabrication tolerances for column and beam straightness. “Table § shows beam and column eree- tion tolerances [Additional Information “+ Architecturally Exposed Structural @© Sccet (AESS) has its own set of toler- ances. These are outind in section 10 ofthe COSP + Chapter Mofthe Specification adresses Quality Control issues for Fabrication sand Eretin, ilt-up, non- ‘compression Straight, struc tural shape orbuiltup, ‘compression Straightness of structural members without spect @ fedcamber cos 6.42 "Curved mem- bers Beams with Specified Camber, COSP 6.4.4 [MODERN STEEL CONSTRUCTION OCTOBER 2005 © Both ends finished for corto bee fe {.e. columns, steel members > HSS mill tolerances must conform 0 ASTM A500, > Pipe mill tolerances must conform to ASTMAS3. > Engineering Frequently Asked Ques- tons, free on AIS web site at www, AISC.org/FAQ. work line ‘actual ‘centerline finished end cictlor fowork ine a Madera Steel Construction SteelWise article, June 2005, “Tolerating ‘Toler- ances by Kurt Gustafon, Proper knowledge and application of structural steel tolerances will enable you to smoothly navigate the construction process. Time and money will be savedday trom Buiding ine or at 20st ton erease fa french nitoral Soy upiomae py ie) arg amy om bing ine sean ee specifiad dimension Pht, She column splice line "variation accept abe a long ae t ‘caused solely by variations in elevar bby understanding tolerances correctly firm @ good reputation and put you in a and communicating expectations clearly. favorable position to win future work. we ‘Working closely with the fabricator, erec> tor, and contractor during the design and Erika Winters Dozoey isan AISC Stel Solu- construction process will help a job run tons Genter advisor and Jason Bricken is the smoothly. Being known for designing Steel Solutions Center director: projects that run sinoothly can earn your (ocTONER 2008 MODERN STEEL