Design of Pipe Column Base Plates Under Gravity Load

Round pipe columns are often used in large, low buildings such as warehouses and department stores. No guidance regarding the design of the base plates for these columns is to be found in the Manual of Steel Construction, and no definitive guidance may be found in the literature. In lieu of having a rational method for sizing the base plate, designers have often resorted to rules of thumb to determine the plate thickness. This paper provides a design procedure for determining the thickness of these base plates under gravity loads, applied to Allowable Stress Design criteria. This method is not applicable for uplift conditions where the column is in net tension nor does it consider erection criteria which is within the judgment of the detailer and erector.