Improved Flexural Stability Design of I-Section Members in AISC (2005) -- A Case Study Comparison to AISC (1989) ASD

The provisions in the AISC 2005 Specification for Structural Steel Buildings for the flexural stability design of steel I-section members have been updated relative to previous Specifications to simplify their logic, organization and application, while also improving their accuracy and generality. This paper gives a brief overview of the updated provisions, and compares and contrasts their flexural resistance calculations with the corresponding calculations from the previous AISC 1989 Specification for Structural Steel Buildings, Allowable Stress Design and Plastic Design. The relative simplicity and accuracy of the AISC 2005 Specification equations are highlighted.