Safety Evaluation of Low-Rise Steel Structures under Wind Loads by Nonlinear Database-Assisted Technique

The design of a large proportion of the low-rise metal buildings in the United States is based on the ASCE 7-93 Standard and the use of allowable stress design (ASD). In this paper we examine, for a typical case, the question of whether such buildings satisfy requirements implicit in more recent versions of the ASCE Standard. We base our investigation into this question on all three wind loading conditions specified in the ASCE 7-02 Standard. In particular, we use the nonlinear database-assisted design technique to assess the degree of safety of a typical portal frame belonging to the wind-force resisting system of a low-rise industrial structure designed in accordance with ASCE 7-93 and ASD. The conclusion of our assessment is that the frame being considered satisfies all ASCE 7-02 requirements with respect to wind loading, but that its safety level is relatively low, and could be improved substantially at very low cost.