Engineers are often faced with the challenge of determining the yield strength or tensile strength of structural steel members found in historical steel buildings. This becomes particularly important for rehabilitation and renovation works.
The table below is an excerpt taken from Part Six of the CISC Handbook of Steel Construction. Note that the yield strength and tensile strength for structural steels produced to CSA Standards in the last 80 years can be safely taken to be 210 MPa and 380 MPa respectively. Page 6-7 of the 11th edition of the Handbook provides a list of data as well as the dates of various publications of historical CSA and ASTM structural steel standards and specifications. Yet another reference engineers may find useful, particularly when trying to determine the properties and dimensions of iron and steel beams historically produced in the USA, or in accordance with historical ASTM specifications, is the American Institute of Steel Construction’s Design Guide #15: AISC Rehabilitation and Retrofit Guide: A Reference for Historic Shapes and Specifications. Within this publication, one can find information on structural steel dating back to the year 1900!
Engineers in Canada in need of information on historical Canadian standards on structural steel products, are welcome to make use of the CISC library.
