Use of High-strength Steel for Simply Supported Beams

As stated by AISC, high-strength steels have proven to be economical choices where lighter members, resulting from use of higher allowable stresses, are not penalized because of instability, local buckling, deflection or other similar reasons. The reduction of dead load and associated savings in shipping costs can be significant factors. However, higher strength steels are not to be used indiscriminately. Effective use of all steels depends on thorough cost and engineering analysis. The purpose of this paper is to find out the cases when high-strength steel, simply supported beams may be economical. The paper refers to High-strength, Low-alloy Steel A572-Gr. 50 only, and assumes its cost is 10% higher than Carbon Steel A36.